The WPP-owned research outfit's ad tool, Mercury, claims the Boots ad is the most likely this holiday season to encourage customers to go on and shop at its stores. The ad features a group of predominantly female colleagues opening their secret Santa gifts to the soundtrack "Here Come the Girls".
Other TV ads that TNS said were likely to encourage customers to shop at the advertiser's store are Tesco's "Finest Christmas" and Morrisons' "Fresh Christmas" featuring Richard Hammond, which are ranked second and third best-performing ads respectively.
Sainsbury's "Jamie's Christmas Tour" ad and Marks & Spencer's "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without..." ad were ranked fourth and fifth-most effective in terms of encouraging customers to shop.
Mercury was launched in October, primarily as a new ad tool to give clients early warning of rival campaigns. The tool tests new TV ads as they launch, enabling clients to take action on their own and competitors' campaigns.
New ads are put to the test with TNS' 130,000-strong online panel. Panellists are assigned ads at random during a seven-day interviewing period, enabling TNS to analyse the ad's effectiveness by gauging panellists' views toward the ads.
Paul Baker, head of Mercury at TNS Research International, said ads that draw on "positive emotions tend to do very well in converting sales".
He added: "What is common among all the top performing ads is their success in conveying a level of Christmas cheer that has a resonance with viewers across all demographics - generating high levels of both engagement and motivation."
The Mercury Christmas ad ranking was collated from select ads measured between October and November.
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