What makes a big brand ad work?

A celebration of some fundamental human need or frailty?

The absence of prices points?

Only fleeting reference to the brand's product or category?

Generous budgets?

Sights and sounds that make people smile and not bored?

Faith that sales will surely follow?

Banks, power companies, beer brewers, insurance and airline companies tend to follow these loose guidelines.

But it does not hold for all categories. The Warehouse built its original brand platform on a price promise and Farmers repositioned its stores through its revised product and pricing range and won a Grande Effie in the process.

The real effectiveness of brand ads is often a hotly contested issue ...

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