Is an ad for life
or just for Christmas?
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Mark Coster
Founder of Pixooma
When it comes to Christmas advertising, retailers have always been intensely competitive. Their budgets appear almost bottomless, as they tried to outdo each other with creativity stretched to the max. Added to that, don’t forget all those new characters who have been introduced to us over the years – Kevin the Carrot, Heathrow Bears, Nicholas the Sweep, the Christmas Fairy, and of course who can forget those lovely night-time animals on a trampoline?
With brand awareness, positioning and portrayal of a positive attitude towards the festivities cited as the main reasons behind such extravagance, I wonder if in these leaner times, it’s acceptable to still to deliver such expensive productions?
As the Guardian said “It’s a Christmas advert, but as if written by Julia Davis and directed by David Lynch”.
Expectation vs. reality
As consumers we all expect these ads, in fact in many cases the retailers are keen for us to get involved earlier and earlier each year with emails reminding us about what’s coming from October onwards. But surely given everything else currently happening in the world, it’s time for retailers to balance expectations against the reality of a reduction in household festive spend.
After all, is it right when we are all struggling with increased food and fuel prices, higher mortgage rates and less disposable income to see our favourite retailers spending millions on a Christmas ad, portraying happy, smiley faces in an almost utopic world? And then there’s the shelf-life issue, it’s extremely limited for obvious reasons.
And I can’t remember what the company was (so it failed there), but is it just me that found the advert where an entire family seem to have all bought each other diamond jewellery a bit much, given the cost of living crisis?
The best and worse festive ads
But is the budget an indicator of quality/success? Probably not, given some of the terrible campaigns over the years. So I thought I’d do a bit of research and remind myself of all those previous adverts. And so, below is just my view on things. You will have your own I am sure, but a word of warning: if you decide to take a look for yourself you may lose a few hours down a Youtube rabbit hole!
In the digital age, when online sales have taken over from more traditional shopping habits, surely, it’s only a matter of time before these big production Christmas TV ads decline in popularity and perhaps even die out. In fact, many Generation Z and Millennials, who are less brand loyal, look to find the cheapest price/best value, rather than buying from familiar vendors. If the Christmas ads are on the way out, will you miss them, or do you think that the enjoyment, hype and excitement that they are rumoured to bring has its place?
And what are your best/worst Christmas ads of all time?
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