The festive season may provide free time for ourselves, in addition to all the busy moments and to those spent together with peers, family and friends. Enjoying some seasonal marketing overviews can prove both an instructional and a pleasant activity. Therefore let’s see what did the 2015 holiday season bring for the traditional retail advertising campaigns (video ads version), at international level.
The most expected video ads
- Dubbed “the king of Christmas commercials”, the John Lewis retail chain came with a cosmic space themed video that impressed the audiences. The British upmarket retailer used the emotional approach with the story of a little girl that notices the lonely man from the moon. Hash-tagged ManOnTheMoon, the short video shows the old man living in a lonely house in the middle of the lunar landscape, while the girl tries to reach him with a present. In an image that reminds of the Up animation, he finally receives the gift basket with the help of a bunch of balloons. The budget used – £7m; the underline – raising awareness for the elderly.
- Macy’s engaged in a similar happiness-themed short story. The entire campaign is entitled “Believe” (actually this represents the eight season of the “Believe” campaign). Another little girl picks up a pencil that comes from TV’s virtual reality – only there’s a problem with it. Not all she tries to write on her Christmas wish list stays on the paper. Some things just disappear, while others instantly become real. Using this to make other people’s wishes come true, the little girl has a moment of doubt when it’s the turn for her wish to come true. Watch this endearing ad to find out how it unravels (although you might have already guessed it’s a happy story). The tagline is “Make someone’s wish come true” and it serves for a donations campaign initiated by the mid-range U.S. retailer. Here are some extra details on the production.
These two ads are representative for established retailers, with a remarkable history concerning the season’s events. The videos are artfully crafted, to the smallest detail. Without trying to be over-innovative, such marketing materials re-affirm an established presence and accentuate the idea of continuity and tradition. For example, Macy’s cleverly blended in technology via the wish-granting pen (a symbol for stylus pens).
Mainstream video ads
- House of Fraser’s campaign went with a pop music style video and debuted on Instagram. With a choice of music and visual elements that rather suggest the holidays instead of representing them, the video is very dynamic, places fashion on top of everything else and delivers a luxurious image, with a lot of dancing and various modern cultural styles. The British retailer reaches out for the young, energetic customers, associating fashion with power and ego. The tagline is “this year it’s your Christmas, your rules”.
- The H&M video commercial for the season features Katy Perry as a festive fairy (and yes, it rhymes). The pop star wrote “Every Day is a Holiday” especially for this campaign. There is a lot of dancing here too, many festive, Christmas-themed outfits, supersized gifts and a mermaid-ish color palette. Trendy and filled with dancers, the ad wishes the viewers and shoppers “happy and merry holidays” in a pop music style.
This category (pop culture and music video styled ads, dedicated soundtrack and famous guest-stars) also may accommodate various other holiday ads coming from fashion retailers: Burberry, Marks & Spencer, Boots. Nordstrom went with a “Home. Heart. Holiday” campaign, while Coach kept the fashion approach, but included it in a story where a stylish very determined woman robs Santa Claus of the luxury merchandise she desires.
Supermarket and retail stores video ads
- Kohl’s short video ad celebrates togetherness and multi-generation reunion. Hash-tagged AllTogetherNow, their campaign takes a heartwarming approach on the modern extended family celebrations. The retail chain also placed a storytelling truck in Times Square for those who would like to share their traditions and family stories (sadly the video is no longer available on YouTube).
- Target went with a children-addressed video. The American retailer offers a free digital storybook narrated by Neil Patrick Harris and accompanied by a wish list app. Three children discover a giant Christmas tree and light after it has gone out, together with Target’s Bullseye mascot and various toys, in a candy cane universe. The headline reads “the story continues” and the entire spot promotes adventure and joy. For details, here you may access a dedicated article.
Other large retailers launched seasonal video ads that please the eye, without being revolutionary. A surprisingly simple video comes from Toys”R”Us and is hash-tagged #AwesomeMoment. In one of the featured sequences, Barbie and Ken travel the store alleys in their car, while saluting their toy friends repeatedly, since Ken seems to be lost. Simplicity does not translate into banality, and the commercial is relevant for the variety of merchandise in the store, as well as for the spirit of children’s playfulness.
Walmart chose to let Craig Robinson share some holiday cheer in a short and explanatory video ad, destined to promote the Walmart Credit Card.
Aldi’s seasonal commercial abounds in goodies and festive colors. Entitled AldiFavouriteThings, the video engages in the simple technique of presenting savory products and happy people as brand representatives. Nice music and bright, warm images wrap a common idea in the holiday atmosphere – an often-encountered advertising recipe.
Unusual video ads
- Currys PC World features a series of ads entitled “Spare the Act this Christmas”. Jeff Goldblum stars in all the video versions as the outside-the-picture character that advises people to try harder at pretending their life is better, by imagining they actually own tech items that offer flawless quality, from Bosch built in single oven to LG 3D 4K Ultra HD Curved TV. The tagline “Spare the act” comes in juxtaposition – why just pretend, when you can have the real thing.
You can see one of the commercials here. The concept is interesting, and the one-celebrity act binds together all the ads. The downsize would be that it takes a bit of thinking to understand the entire dynamic, and each video ad seems longer than it is (they actually take from 1 to 3 minutes). The campaign stands out by taking a more cerebral approach. If the target public welcomes this approach, it will be a success; otherwise it remains an interesting study case.
2. Hash-tagged #MulberryMiracle, the Mulberry seasonal video campaign makes a bold move by featuring a brand bag as the star of the season. In a re-take of Christmas, the receiver of the bag is visited by various representative characters, from shepherds to wise men, all coming to see the bag. The red bag is definitely the centerpiece of the video – and the entire commotion may surprise the viewers with this unexpected approach. It is apparently all about finding the perfect gift this Mulberry season. This ad caused 42 complaints to be lodged with the UK Advertising Standards Authority, yet the ASA did not ban it.
In addition, a last entry, also coming from UK – the Sainsbury ad, entitled “Mog’s Christmas Calamity”. Probably the first of these year’s holiday ads to become viral, this animated film constitutes a good closing piece for our article. See it for yourself, to sparkle your festive moments with fun and remember the childhood spirit. It is tag – lined “Christmas is for sharing” and it features Mog the animated cat for 3:30 minutes.
