Christmas commercials hold a special place to that heart of the consumer, and the mind of the marketer. While both are conscious of the fact that this is paid media, the connotations of nostalgia and family/love with Christmas make people more emotionally accessible. This leads to greater rewatches and sharing of these ads. Marketing analytics Socialbakers estimate that “ with brands' Christmas campaigns received, on average, 3.3 times the number of YouTube views than their standard campaigns.” Here are three examples of highly successful marketing campaigns that command similar emotional responses.
Allegro| “English for Beginners” (2016) | Poland
This advertisement features a simple story of an old Polish man learning English in order to communicate with his granddaughter in the UK, meeting for the first time on Christmas. Released on November 28th, 2016, the advertisement currently has over 12 million YouTube views, and touches on the globally understandable topic of immigration and cross-cultural families, although the approach is through a personal story as opposed to any strict factual oversight. This video particularly resonates with it’s Polish demographic, them having dealt with the emigration of their children/grandchildren outside of the country in particular to the UK. In 2016, “ 3.3 percent of live births in the UK were born to Polish mothers — a figure that's 12.5 times higher than it was in 2004, when Poland joined the European Union.” Of course, the emotions involved in such a situation can be relatable to anyone who has experience part of their family moving to another culture, this is common in South America, Asia and many other places. This advertisement is not defined by traditional christmas colors and songs, but instead by the feelings of family bonding that the entire world associates with Christmas.
Sainsbury’s | “Christmas is For Sharing” (2014) | UK
Sainsbury’s has a reputation for releasing a notable annual Christmas advert. However, the 2014 advertisement has particular sentimental value for being based on an unbelievable true story. This takes place on Christmas Day 1914, where in the midst of World War 1 both sides of trench warfare set aside their differences and approach each other peacefully to spend Christmas together as brothers. This advertisement is particularly powerful because it was released exactly 100 years after the actual event took place. An advertisement such as this could have easily been regarded as tacky, but dedicated collaboration with the Royal British Legion and historian group Association for Military Remembrance helped ensure detail accuracy, including the authentic chocolate packaging. By taking the subject respectfully, Sainsbury’s was able to tell a story that - although historically solidified - seems timeless. The positive messages of goodwill toward man even in terrible times resonate with people greatly.
Edka | “#HeimKommen” (2015) | Germany
This German advertisement also focuses heavily on family. It tells a story of a grandfather, having spent many holidays alone, literally faking his own death in order to bring the family together for Christmas. It was notable for being a tremendous tear jerker. It was also tremendously successful - “ Edeka racked up 33.5 million views just a week after posting”, and currently has over 53 million YouTube views. Like in the other commercials, this ad does not highlight the brand/product as the main aspect. It is much more important for marketers to associate the brand image with the general positive feelings that Christmas has culturally. As with this case, “brands are shying away from making these videos too promotional or too blatantly product-oriented, which lends them to be more sharable and leads to more views." In a way, this is a particularly advanced form of news-jacking. “Holiday-jacking”, perhaps? The ethics of the situation are easy to overlook when the content of the commercial is so emotion-triggering.
Conclusion
So, what can be concluded from these advertisements? As stated before, people are particularly emotionally susceptible during Christmas-themed media. Since this is a holiday close to the conclusion of the year as well as being religiously-based, people are seeking out warm feelings and watching depressing stories is a good catharsis for them. All these commercials feature heartwarming endings and a reassuring message, also comforting for people to hear after a turbulent year. While there many different types of Christmas adverts and many different types of adverts that become famous, this particular combination has proven over and over again to be a successful formula.
Wrote by Staël Anicet & Nadiya Kutishcheva
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