Could this be the perfect strategy for Christmas?

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INTRODUCTION

What would your perfect Christmas look like? Time spent with loved ones? Or perhaps an endless supply of mulled wine? In truth, the idea of a perfect Christmas is very subjective. What about Christmas communications, however? Can there be a recipe for the perfect Christmas campaign? Well in this ‘holiday special’ of Grow Club we are going to find out. So are you ready to discover the recipe for a perfect Christmas campaign? Let’s find out.

#1 THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

What is the true meaning of Christmas? Some may believe it's just an excuse to sell more products. I prefer to take a more positive point of view. I believe Christmas, at its heart, is about reconnecting with friends & family. Furthermore in a world where families are more separated than ever. And in a world where loneliness is the pandemic of the modern age, the idea of reconnecting is more powerful than ever before.

Looking at this year’s Christmas ads we can see that some brands lean into this idea of reconnection, but the question is…is it effective? Well thankfully the clever people over at Zappi have done some brilliant ad testing and it looks as if the idea of reconnection really does resonate.  In fact, four of their top-scoring campaigns all lean into this idea of reconnection.

Amazon ‘Joy Ride’ the top scoring campaign sees old friends reconnect & make new memories. Boots ‘Give Joy’ sees a mother & daughter connect to find a gift for Santa. And even ALDI & TX Maxx centred around the idea of reconnection, albeit in a slightly more surreal way, seeing animals & vegetables reconnect.

So what is the first ingredient for the ‘perfect’ Christmas campaign? Try to lean into a truth about Christmas which has the greatest cultural relevance. At the moment the idea of reconnection is powerful…but this may change as the cultural context does.

#2 TREAD WITH CAUTION

When you think about it, Christmas is kind of strange. We drag dead trees into our houses. We have little calendars filled with chocolate. And we even let some fat guy in a red suit take all the credit for the kids' Christmas presents. Yet in truth, these traditions are what make Christmas. Traditions are rituals which create memories & shared connections over the years. And when it comes to traditions, and your Christmas campaign, you must tread with caution. 

Looking once again at our Zappi data we can see that both ASDA & Sainsbury score well by leaning into traditions. ASDA taps into the modern Christmas tradition of Michael Bublé (he only releases Christmas albums now right?). And Sainsbury’s leans into a very relatable, albeit unofficial tradition, of kids asking difficult questions about Santa. The latter does particularly well at landing a ‘heartwarming’ message, which is surely what we all want at Christmas.

On the flip side, those brands that attempt to challenge traditions received a more mixed response. For example, whilst Marks & Spence does evoke ‘happy emotions’ it scores well below both ASDA & Sainsbury for heartwarming…a key Christmas metric.

The M&S home campaign did at least perform better than John Lewis’s efforts this year in terms of ‘brand lovers’ and ‘consideration’. In fact, John Lewis performed well below its usual scores, receiving the second highest ‘haters’ rating overall in Zappi’s research. Why so many haters? Let’s find out below…

Well, historically John Lewis performed well by having a ‘surprise’ payoff at the end. This year, however, the ‘surprise’ (ie Venus fly trap) is revealed in the first twenty seconds of the ad. Simply they may have given the punchline away too soon. Beyond this, I think it’s almost important to remember that John Lewis in many ways had the toughest brief this year…with a whopping 50% of UK consumers saying that the John Lewis ad was their most anticipated ad this Christmas. Simply there were very high expectations to meet.

Taking a step back we can discover the second ingredient for our ‘perfect’ Christmas campaign…. try to lean into traditions rather than trying to reinvent them. And if you are tempted to challenge them, tread with caution.

#3 COMMUNITY SHOUT OUT

Want to know when you should never tread with caution? …giving this community a shout-out. This week I want to give a special mention to Edwin for shouting out Grow Club on Twitter. Thank you so much, sir.

Want to get a shout-out to over 3,900 CMOs, CEOS & founders next week? Simply share this week’s newsletter on your LinkedIn and write a few words about why you recommend Grow Club. Please also make sure to tag me on Linkedin to ensure i see it.

3/ DON'T BE TOO PUSHY

Let’s not beat around the bush. Christmas is one of the most important times of the year for retailers. It is a time when they have big targets to hit & a lot of products to shift. Yet selling products well at Christmas is an art form. It requires a clever approach. An approach that avoids being too pushy.

All the best-performing campaigns from our Zappi research have one thing in common. They are story first and product second. Simply, all of them tell a great story that gives a clear role for their product or brand to play. Both Aldi and M&S turn their food into central characters and place them at the heart of their story. Michael Bublé acts as a quality controller for the ASDA brand. And Amazon places its app at the heart of its heartwarming reconnection story. So whilst they all feature products throughout, they never come across as too salesy or pushy.

So the final ingredient for our ‘perfect’ Christmas campaign? Don’t be too pushy and always try to wrap your products in a compelling story. 

CONCLUSION

So can there be such a thing as the perfect Christmas campaign? Probably not. Similar to what each of us prefers about Christmas…it’s all very subjective. However, if you implement the following ingredients into your Christmas campaign next year you will likely vastly improve your chances of success:

• Lean into a Christmas truth which has the most cultural relevance.

• Treat traditions with respect and tread with caution if you're looking to challenge them

• Don’t be too pushy when it comes to product and always aim to be the story first.

Thank you for reading this week’s newsletter and a special thank you to this week’s sponsor Zappi. What is Zappi? It's an agile research platform that helps big consumer brands create better ads and products. They’ve helped global brands like PepsiCo, McDonald’s and Reckitt infuse consumer insights early and often in creative development and learn from each new data point. 

Thanks again and Merry Christmas,

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Expect big thinking & small typ0s because i'm #MadeByDyslexia 

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Will Poskett

Co-Founder Defiant