With Christmas just around the corner, festive advertising campaigns are in full swing as retailers look to maximise sales. Although Christmas has always generated hype and excitement with big advertising spending, there is something peculiarly British about the anticipation surrounding the Christmas adverts from the UK’s big brands.
These festive commercials are now so ingrained in UK culture they have become synonymous with the start of the festive season. And big businesses face enormous pressure to win over audiences with sentimental tales in an effort to exceed the British public’s high expectations.
Here, we take a look at this quirky UK yuletide phenomenon and how it compares to some of the latest Christmas adverts from other countries to see how cultural differences are handled.
Battle of the brands
The most notable Christmas adverts first appeared in the 1920s with Coca-Cola posters, although they weren’t shown on British TV until 1955. Surprisingly, it was 40 years later that Coca-Cola’s memorable ‘Holidays are Coming’ advert with the iconic red truck first aired on British TV in 1995 – and for many, Christmas today feels incomplete without it.
While there is a US connection, the scale of the UK’s Christmas advert extravaganza is a relatively new phenomenon, said to be sparked by John Lewis. Its first iconic advert in 2007 raised the public’s interest and that of other big brands, but a gold standard was set by its 2009 offering. The result was an explosion of other businesses following suit in the hope they too would benefit from the ‘John Lewis Effect’.
These captivating stories are based on universal themes associated with Christmas, such as nostalgia, family, and friendship and are designed to pull at our heartstrings, challenging even the toughest among us not to shed a tear. They command huge budgets and showcase some of Britain’s best brand and advertising creative talent, making the stakes extremely high.
BBH London deputy executive creative director Caroline Pay told Fast Company: “It’s clearly John Lewis’ fault. Making everyone weep into their mince pies.”
She added: “It’s become our version of the Superbowl, just with more tinsel.”
“Rather like hosting Christmas, we tend to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort and money making sure our version of Christmas is extra special. Then we sit and wait for everyone to judge whether we’ve smashed it or not.”
But Christmas campaigns seem well worth the effort. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), December is the most important month of the year for most UK retailers, with the Office of National Statistics Retail Sales Index citing that 20% of annual sales take place in November and December.
Navigating changing times
However, in recent years, campaigns and their big budgets have shifted towards emotional engagement with audiences in response to the pandemic, high street closures, and the cost-of-living crisis. Brands are careful not to seem out of touch with the financial pressures people are experiencing right now.
Big brands know they have a unique national platform to raise important issues and generate a national conversation. Many are increasingly partnering with charities to raise awareness of social issues while promoting brand values and building customer loyalty.
John Lewis’ 2022 Christmas advert tells a heart-warming story about a man preparing to foster a child and we later learn that the retailer has teamed up with two charities working with young people in care.
In the same vein, this year’s M&S Christmas campaign is supporting community causes by donating £1 million to The Neighbourly Foundation.
M&S clothing and home marketing director Anna Braithwaite said: “Christmas is a time that brings families and communities together and we know customers are determined to protect those celebrations.”
This trend of giving charitably at Christmas also supports a UK business trend for responsible and community-focused businesses, aligning their values to a seemingly increasing customer demand that elevates people and the planet alongside profit. We’re not sure that every country and culture has the same values and principle composition – a helpful reminder of how different each market is.
As popular as ever in 2022
Jon Evans, chief customer officer at the advert testing platform System, said: “The bleak economic forecast hasn’t stopped Christmas advertisers – and now we can see it hasn’t stopped the British public from loving Christmas ads.
“There’s been an emphasis on family, nostalgia and special moments which gets the mood just right – even if it’s just for one day, at Christmas people want to feel a bit of joy.”
With this in mind, Tesco’s new festive advert created by BBH London, encourages people to ‘stand up for joy’ despite the cost-of-living crisis and celebrate in style, no matter their budget.
Tesco chief customer officer Alessandra Bellini said: “It’s very important that our seasonal campaigns reflect how our customers genuinely feel and what we know they are looking for.
“We understand that it is a tough time at the moment with everyone’s finances under pressure, but we also know that people are looking forward to Christmas – in fact, our research shows that there is even more excitement around it than usual.”
Business opportunities – reaching global markets
While it’s fair to say the Christmas advert is a British homegrown quirk, many brands around the world respond to similar seasonal cultural cues and include many of the same themes in their festive campaigns.
If you want to reach international markets, Christmas provides a huge opportunity for businesses of all sizes to generate sales from festive ad campaigns. However, to ensure your campaign is successful, it’s crucial to pay close attention to the little details and be aware of the subtle difference in how brands frame Christmas.
To get us in the Christmas spirit, we look at three Christmas adverts from around the world:
Spain 2022 – Anuncio Lotería – Story 2: “Vika”
The much-anticipated Spanish National Lottery annual Christmas campaign generates similar levels of discussion as John Lewis.
This year, ‘Vika’ tells of the touching friendship that develops between two co-workers in a Christmas lights factory. Although Vika has only just moved to Spain and doesn’t speak much Spanish, the two form a close bond and decide to share a lottery ticket – a Spanish tradition reserved for those who matter in their lives.
This poignant tale unfolds slowly and thoughtfully with very little dialogue, giving the audience time to consider the importance of friendship and support in times of loneliness. The universal themes of friendship and support are easily relatable across borders and languages. But the food references are very specifically Spanish and it’s clearly designed to connect with a local audience.
Austria 2022 – Erste Group Bank AG (Erste Group)
The Austrian financial service provider’s ad features a man set on ruining Christmas for everyone living in a small village by sabotaging energy supplies and fuel tanks of cars. Faced with an energy crisis, the villagers unite to triumph over evil and celebrate Christmas with what little they have.
This piece truly strikes a chord given the challenges so many are facing today due to the energy and cost-of-living crisis. This is a wonderfully uplifting advert that reinforces the power of community and people gathering to lift each other’s spirits.
Unlike the Spanish advert, Erste Group’s piece works across different countries, uniting people with a common theme at the moment of overcoming the challenges of an energy crisis.
Chile 2022 – Coca-Cola
This year’s Coca-Cola Christmas advert, created by advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, is part of its ongoing ‘Real Magic’ global brand platform.
‘Just Like Mama Used to Make’ tells the heart-warming story of how a son preserves the memory of his late mother by cooking a treasured family recipe, all the while imagining her assessing his efforts with a supportive, but generally disapproving eye. This advert stands out for the sensitivity and respect shown in remembering the loss of loved ones, and the joy of bringing the family and new generations back together for a magical moment at Christmas.
Christmas is an extremely big deal in Chile and spending time with family is a huge part of that. The strength of the connection in Chile is evidently relevant, but with such universal themes, this is an example of an advert that could connect on a global level.
Professional translation services provide input on far more than a focus on single words. These Christmas campaigns show the importance of assessing the big picture and country-specific cultural themes, as well as the little details that will make a huge difference to the success of your campaign and guarantee you reach your target audience.
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