Christmas Ads: When It’s As Much About What You Say As What You Sell

It’s that time of the year again when our retailers know it’s as much about what you say, as what you sell.

The annual Christmas advertising campaigns from the big names, which take months, sometimes years, to develop – and cost a pretty penny too – are hitting our screens and being talked about as much as the top TV shows of the season.

Leading the way, once again, is John Lewis – a brand that knows its core values and puts every effort into communicating them at Christmas.

Its 2022 offering is called The Beginner and coincides with the launch of the John Lewis Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme, which is aimed at helping young people who have experience of the care system. The advert was developed with the co-operation of two charities, Action For Children and Who Cares Scotland, and follows the haphazard journey of a man learning to skateboard to bond with a young girl his family is fostering.

While warm and cosy – and full of that special Christmas spirit that goes down so well with the TV viewing public – the advert has had its critics too. Karen Lury, Professor of Film and Television Studies, University of Glasgow, writes: “I am furious that it adds to the way our commitment to care for the most vulnerable in our society is dissolved through palatable pops of promotional compassion.”  While this, no doubt, would be the last thing the brand intended, the response only goes to show the sensitivities of tackling difficult subjects in a commercial environment.

A less controversial advert is that of Walkers crisps, which is theming its Christmas campaign for 2022 on mental health and reminding us that it’s okay not to be okay. Its advert has been developed as a partnership with Comic Relief and comes after the brand conducted research that found that nearly every other time (38%) a person in the UK says that they’re ‘fine’, they’re not being truthful. The figure worsens at Christmas, with more than half (52%) of adults in the UK saying they feel more pressure than ever at this time of the year to have a smile on their face.

While the underlying message of these major festive campaigns is undoubtedly valuable, any creative director knows only too well that Christmas adverts are still business.

The marketeers who follow the annual Christmas advertising campaigns with interest make an annual pecking order of the brands they believe excel on both fronts. This year, they have crowned their favourite adverts as those from Cadbury and Asda.

According to Lynne Deason, of marketing research analysts Kantar, the challenge for the big retailers is striking the right balance between celebrating the feel-good factor of Christmas, while also being cleverly commercial at this key time. She said: “Festive storylines can overpower commerciality, meaning brands are wasting media investment and handing competitors the advantage.”

The win for Cadbury is the return of its Secret Santa Postal Service for a fifth year through which they will give away 120,000 free bars of chocolate in the run up to Christmas. Its advert introduces viewers to the Cadbury postman as he explains how the postal service works for the UK public to send a free – and secret – chocolate bar to someone special.

One of the reasons it’s being hailed a success is that it focuses more on the act of giving than receiving – and the play on the ‘free’ theme taps into a country-wide need, as the cost-of-living crisis heightens at the same time as Christmas beckons.

Also, up there as a Christmas advert cracker, according to the experts, is Asda’s ‘Have your elf a merry Christmas’.

The supermarket has enlisted the help of a very special co-worker this year with Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy the Elf, playing out iconic scenes from the 2003 film Elf in the store.

The scene is set around a fun-filled, yet slightly chaotic, trial shift in which Buddy is doing his very best to secure the job. Needless to say, everyone falls in love with him by the end – and he’s rewarded with a yes from store bosses.

According to global marketing research and effectiveness company, System 1, Asda’s ad gets top marks for its potential to drive long-term brand impact and short-term sales growth.

It’s especially tricky for brands this year, who have a job on their hands to get the tills ringing against the economic gloom of a cost-of-living crisis. The ads that acknowledge the challenges we’re all up against, while still injecting the festive spirit, may be in with the best chance of capturing the moment. But the big question remains, will they bag the best sales?

This article was written by our chief executive, Angharad Neagle, and featured in the Western Mail on 12 December 2022