EasyJet takes letters to Santa: The Marketing Week Christmas blog 2023

4 December: EasyJet takes letters to Santa

EasyJet is installing special post boxes in airports this Christmas, and delivering the letters posted to Santa in Lapland.

Around 200,000 families are set to fly this Christmas, and research suggests 71% of children flying around the holidays are concerned Santa won’t be able to find them.

To tackle this worry, EasyJet is taking children’s letters directly to Santa’s home in Rovaniemi, Lapland.

Post boxes have been installed in London Gatwick, London Luton, Bristol and Manchester, as well as many airports in Europe. The airline will also be collecting letters from some primary schools local to the UK airports to take directly to Lapland.

“We hope our Letters to Santa postal service will bring some extra magic to the thousands of families travelling with us around the holidays and to schools in our local airport communities, where our fantastic cabin crew will be making sure that even more wishes are hand delivered to Santa in time for Christmas,” says EasyJet pilot Hannah Wells, who will be flying some of the letters.

30 November: Diageo talks up the ‘magic of moderate drinking’

Consumers may be starting to feel the magic of the festive period but drinks maker Diageo is emphasising ‘The Magic of Moderate Drinking’ in the run-up to Christmas.

The campaign is led by a video showing multiple ways consumers can employ responsible drinking tactics, from spacing alcoholic drinks with food to drinking water between alcoholic drinks. The ad also shows that consumers can switch to a non-alcoholic option, such as Tanqueray 0.0 to moderate their drinking.

“I love this campaign as it shows that you don’t have to compromise on fun in order to moderate your drinking,” says Diageo global society director, Kate Gibson. “This is challenging outdated perceptions about responsible drinking and demonstrates you can still have a great celebration.”

The campaign will also be brought to life on out-of-home channels, including ads on the London Underground as well as Diageo social channels.

28 November: Burger King subverts Christmas traditions

Burger King is “hijacking” festive traditions like the Christmas number one, and even Santa Claus, as it takes an alternative view of the season.

The brand has resisted the temptation to engage in an emotional Christmas ad offering and is instead parodying some beloved traditions.

It has rewritten classic Christmas song ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ to redirect listeners to their nearest Burger King instead.

‘Driving (Thru The) Home (Of The Whopper) For Christmas’ guides listeners to 21 different Burger King restaurants via the most popular motorways in the UK.

The full length song is eight minutes, but has been sliced to create individual local radio ads that target listeners when they are driving by any of the 21 drive-through destinations.

The song is accompanied by a music video featuring a singing and dancing sat-nav.

In addition, Burger King is taking its ‘hiijacking’ of Christmas to the main man himself, by featuring Santa Claus in its out-of-home ads this festive season.

The ads play on the double meaning of the word ‘Whopper’, as both the name of Burger King’s signature burger and its definition as being a large lie.

“It’s hard for brands to stand out at Christmas. So instead of trying to out-Christmas anyone, we decided to hijack it,” says Burger King brand and communications director Soco Núñez de Cela.

“We had a lot of fun with arguably the biggest Whopper of the season and creating a tune that will be in our heads and hopefully everyone else’s throughout the season.”

23 November: Coca-Cola expands Christmas truck tour for 2023

Coca-Cola is broadening the scope of its long-standing Christmas truck tour, adding eight new locations for 2023, taking the total up to 17.

The tour kicks off in Glasgow tomorrow (24 November) and has a planned stop in Edinburgh the following day with the rest of the locations across Great Britain to be revealed shortly.

Offering an array of festive experiences for visitors, including games, photo opportunities and the Coca-Cola Christmas choir, the drinks giant has also partnered with Neighbourly to raise funds for local community causes.

As well as bringing to life its long-running ‘Holidays are Coming’ festive ad, the experience this year also links to Coke’s 2023 Christmas spot ‘The World Needs More Santas’ by directing visitors to take part in its Discover Your Inner Santa quiz.

Coca-Cola wants to create ‘a big TV moment’ with Christmas ad focusing on kindness

Coca-Cola has reportedly scored a “double whammy” this year by running its new Christmas ad alongside Holidays are Coming, according to System1, with both ads achieving “exceptional” effectiveness scores.

Florence Wheatley, brand Manager at Coca-Cola Company, Great Britain, says Coca-Cola wanted to make the truck tour experience as “magical and merry as possible” this year.

“Alongside the beloved return of the Truck Tour nationwide and the much loved Holidays Are Coming advert, we have introduced new elements like the World Needs More Santas TV commercial and an interactive Santa quiz.”

22 November: Co-op shuns Christmas ad in favour of donation campaign

Co-op has opted out of what it terms “the battle of the Christmas adverts” this year, and has launched a campaign focusing on raising donations.

The retailer is looking to bring the “gift of community spirit”, and has pledged to match donations made. The funds raised will go towards local community causes, including sports equipment for nearby clubs and hot meals for those that need them.

Co-op’s members are able to donate their unused member rewards. The retailer has over 4.5m active members. There is an average balance of around £5 per active member.

The campaign to raise awareness of the donation scheme will run across channels including out-of-home, video-on-demand, and digital.

“Co-op is different, and we are proud of this,” says Co-op chief membership and marketing officer Kenyatte Nelson, adding that despite a tough year he was confident members and customers would donate generously.

“Giving the gift of community spirit isn’t a trite marketing tag line, it’s a genuine desire by our members, customers and Co-op, to amass a Christmas funding boost to make a real difference to the communities we serve,” Nelson says.

21 November: Quality Street teams up with John Barnes to rap about wrappers

 

Quality Street is celebrating its recyclable wrappers this Christmas through a rap.

The Nestle-owned chocolate brand has teamed up with England football great John Barnes to spread the message about its sweets’ paper packaging.

As well as his work on the pitch, Barnes is also known for his rap credentials, due to his cameo appearance in the 1990 England World Cup song ‘World in Motion’.

In this ad, ‘Street (W)rapper’, Barnes appears in a vintage shell-suit paired with a toffee medallion around his neck.

“Keep it simple, keep it sweet, recycle your Quality Street,” he raps.

The video takes cues from classic rap videos, with Barnes appearing in the club, as well as a Christmas light grotto.

Nestle first began switching its Quality Street chocolates into paper packaging last year. This year, the brand has completed the move to paper wrappers across nine of its 11 chocolates, with the Green Triangle and Orange Chocolate Crunch remaining in recyclable foil.

The company claims this will take two billion pieces of packaging out of the supply chain.

20 November: Cadbury celebrates return of its Dairy Milk Chocolate Coins in festive campaign

Cadbury is bringing back its Dairy Milk Chocolate Coins after almost a decade off the shelves and is celebrating the return with a Christmas campaign.

The campaign unashamedly embraces the Christmas excitement. To kick this off, Cadbury launched a special billboard in Leeds, which began as a normal poster before the brand added more and more decorations to it. By the end of the build, the wall the billboard is on is overflowing with lights and baubles.

To celebrate the return of the chocolate coins, Cadbury also tracked down three UK households who go all out for Christmas with their decorations and aren’t afraid to put them up early. The brand helped these festive fans get a head start on their decorations by gifting them Dairy Milk Chocolate Coin lights, with the results captured for social media.

The campaigns’ assets, both on social and out-of-home, symbolise Cadbury’s overflowing festive excitement for the season and about the return of the coins.

“Cadbury Coins had been missing from UK shelves for almost a decade, so we wanted to make a lot of noise to celebrate their return,” says Mondelez International senior brand manager for Cadbury Christmas and Halloween, Emma Jayne Paxton.

“Coins coming back meant our Christmas spirit was revitalised and we’ve unapologetically gone all out with our decor to shout about their return, spreading our contagious festive cheer. Bring on Cadbury coins and bring on Christmas.”

15 November: McDonald’s raises the bar on Christmas effectiveness with eyebrow ad

McDonald’s Christmas edition of ‘Raise Your Arches’ has “very good” brand-building potential for the fast-food business, according to data from System1.

The 30-second version of the ad, which is the third edition of the platform, scored 4.1 stars on System1’s ‘Test Your Ad’ platform, which assesses the long-term effectiveness of ads based on audiences’ emotional reactions.

While the first iteration of the ad scored an ‘exceptional’ branding score on System1, the second didn’t manage to live up to the success of the original. This festive iteration outperforms its predecessor, which scored 3.1 stars, on long-term effectiveness.

The festive offering is classed as having “very good” long-term brand-building potential. It is McDonald’s first Christmas ad in the 2020s to surpass the four star barrier.

This year’s Christmas ads have produced three ads so far that have achieved the highest possible score of 5.9 stars: Aldi, Amazon and Morrisons.

System1 chief customer officer Jon Evans commends McDonald’s decision to build on an established platform at Christmas.

“With a lot of ads, the Christmas commercial is terrific but it doesn’t tie in as strongly with their ongoing campaigns. McDonalds have avoided that problem in style. A great idea is for life, not just for Christmas,” he says.

The shortest version of the ad, at 30 seconds, was the best performing version of the creative, according to System1.

“Christmas ads have a tendency to be long,” says Evans, “And with the big storytelling hits like Aldi it’s the full versions that do best. But in the wider world of advertising, we’ve found 30 seconds is the ideal length for effectiveness.”

13 November: KFC rejects calls for ‘Kentucky Fried Turkey’

KFC is ignoring its consumers this festive season, by rejecting feedback that the brand should start making Kentucky Fried Turkey for Christmas.

The brand’s 2023 Christmas ad spotlights its consumers’ pleas for it to introduce turkey to its menu at Christmas time. The ad, which shows a staff member assembling a KFC buger, contains posts from real consumers asking the company to introduce “KFT”.

While the beginning of the ad seems to suggest the brand will listen to the suggestion, with a title telling consumers “We heard you.”, the next screen professes, “And we ignored you.”

“Customers are always right, but not when it comes to switching out chicken for turkey,” says KFC strategy and innovation director Kate Wall. “We thank them for their input, but we’ll stick with the poultry we know and love.”

The ad declares, “we’re sticking with chicken”. It ends with KFC’s festive menu offering, ‘the Stuffing stacker’, which contains a sage and onion patty, spicy cranberry sauce, and, of course, chicken.

The campaign was developed with creative agency Mother.

13 November: Walkers embraces spirit of sharing at Christmas

Walkers has unveiled a Christmas ad for 2023, which focuses on the difficulties of sharing during the festive season.

The 30 second depicts a man and woman battling to grab a Christmas tree first, a family arguing over a remote, and two people uncomfortably sharing a sofa.

While there are difficulties over sharing these things, Walkers highlights that its crisps are “actually made to share”. The squabbling groups in the ad are shown being able to successfully share a packer of Walkers together, if nothing else.

“While we know that we aren’t a nation renowned for our love of sharing, especially during the many testing moments we’re faced with at Christmas – there is one thing that is definitely made for sharing throughout the festive season, and that’s Walkers crisps,” says Walkers senior marketing director Wayne Newton.

The ad was produced by PepsiCo’s in-house agency Sips and Bites.

10 November: JD Sports celebrates 25 years of its duffle bag

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports is celebrating 25 years of its duffle bag and the role it plays in youth culture in its Christmas ad.

The ad deviates from the usual formula of a Christmas ad, and instead centres on the lives of the young consumers JD Sports serves. It features the retailer’s duffle carrier bag playing a role in these lives, from being used as a football boot bag to a schoolbag, to being taken to a rave.

‘The Bag for Life’ ad shows moments ranging from a Christmas meal with family to hanging out with mates in an effort to portray the diverse lives of its consumers. It features famous celebrity faces, including footballer Ella Toone, rapper Central Cee and singer-songwriter Joy Crookes.

The campaign was created with agency Uncommon. It has been accompanied by bold out-of-home activations, featuring the celebrity talent in the ad.

 “JD has always been the force behind propelling youth culture forwards, and we want to commend the unique place that the brand is fortunate enough to occupy,” says JD Sports EU marketing director Chris Waters.

10 November: Iceland scraps Christmas ad to ‘invest money in supporting customer’

Iceland has chosen not to produce a Christmas ad this year, with the company’s executive chair claiming the business has instead opted to invest the money into value for its consumer.

Richard Walker took to X (f0rmerly known to Twitter) today (10 November) to communicate the company’s decision.

“Rather than spend millions creating and sharing a TV ad, we chose to invest the money supporting our customers during the cost-of-living crisis,” he wrote, calling it a “no-brainer”.

This festive season Iceland is giving its customers who top-up £100 on its ‘Bonus Card’ a free £15 to spend in the run up to Christmas.

The last couple of weeks have seen many of the UK’s biggest supermarkets and discounters release their Christmas ad campaigns. The likes of M&S and Asda have recruited celebs for their ads, while Sainsbury’s and Aldi have features from Santa and brand character Kevin the Carrot.

10 November: Sky Cinema celebrates emotive power of movies at Christmas

Sky Cinema is positioning itself as the “home of film”, with a festive campaign that celebrates the power of great movie moments and their power to inspire different emotions in audiences.

The ad showcases powerful moments from different films, from classics like ‘Forrest Gump’ to festive hits like ‘Polar Express’ and newer releases such as ‘Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse’.

At the end of the ad, a man, sat in the cinema, with his face drenched in tears is shown. The tagline, ‘You only get this from a movie’ is shown, demonstrating the emotive power of the films.

The diverse range of films shown in the ad will all be available on Sky Cinema this Christmas.

The ad is soundtracked by ‘Never Enough’ by Brian Justin Crum. The multi-million pound campaign will be broadcasted across TV, broadcast video-on-demand services and cinema.

“The campaign highlights that there is truly something for everyone on Sky Cinema,” says Sky director of marketing, Dave Stratton. “The emotive nature of the ad was a result of customer insight that really highlighted how families bond over a movie at Christmas and there’s no better place to be than Sky Cinema to do that.”

It will also be supported by an out-of-home campaign, which sees Sky Cinema make festive puns centred around some of the films available on its service. For example, Spiderman is depicted alongside the pun ‘Swingle all the way’.

Sky Cinema will continue to offer customers two free Vue Cinema as part of its value proposition, enabling them to enjoy movies at home and on the big screen this Christmas.

7 November: The Works emphasises value in first-ever Christmas brand ad

Retailer The Works has launched its first-ever brand Christmas ad, which seeks to emphasise its value credentials as shoppers continue to contend with the cost-of-living crisis.

The campaign, ‘Unwrap Real Value’, depicts real kids reacting to Christmas presents from the retailer. The multichannel campaign seeks to highlight that shoppers can bring joy to children through gifts that don’t have to break the bank.

The children unwrapping their gifts from The Works brings both funny and touching moments in the 30 second spot. The price of each gift is also displayed prominently alongside each unwrapping.

“We know this Christmas will be tough for many families, and that’s why we wanted to bring to life the priceless moments that really matter, as well as showcase our great value products that will help households make the most of their budget in a hilarious and relatable format,” says The Works marketing director Simon Peck.

The brand ad was produced by Full Send Studios and directed by Zac Hancock. The ‘Unwrap Real Value’ platform will also utilise social media, influencers, instore, and PR in agency, Brazen.

7 November: Lovehoney seeks to destigmatise sexual wellness with first Christmas ad

Sexual wellness brand Lovehoney has launched its first-ever Christmas ad, with the aim of destigmatising sex toys.

The ad centres around three real customer reviews from Lovehoney’s website. It depicts two couples and a woman unwrapping products from the site.

While the brand has ran ads during the festive season previously, it is the first time it has launched a specific Christmas ad.

Lovehoney’s head of international marketing planning Elaine Sosna describes the ad as “yet another important step in the journey to destigmatise sexual wellbeing.”

She says that “seeing a Lovehoney commercial alongside other Christmas adverts will help show how normal it is to give or receive a sex toy as a gift”.

The ad was developed with creative agency Leith. It builds on Lovehoney’s first pre-watershed ad, which was shown earlier this year. The ad was developed especially to meet the guidelines to be shown during the day and again aimed to destigmatise sexual wellness.

6 November: Lidl focuses on everyday kindness with return of toy bank campaign

Discounter Lidl has launched its annual Christmas campaign, which highlights ‘everyday kindness’ with the tale of a raccoon returning a lost toy.

The campaign also announces the return of the ‘Toy Bank’, a nationwide donation drive to donate gifts to children who may not have otherwise received a gift. The announcement comes as the retailer’s Christmas ad, which premieres today during Emmerdale, “reminds viewers of the power of small gestures.”

Brimming with Christmas spirit, the hotly anticipated advert tells the story of an adorable raccoon who goes above and beyond to make one little boy’s day extra special. The advert, which is being shown across Lidl’s international markets, reminds viewers of the huge impact that small acts of kindness can have during the festive season.

Peter de Roos, chief commercial officer at Lidl GB, says: “Our hope is that by bringing back the toy donation points we are making it easier, for those customers who can, to donate directly to local good causes by giving them a small way to make a real difference and help those that need it the most.”

In addition, the retailer will for the first time be selling toys based on the characters in the ad, with all proceeds going to charity platform Neighbourly.

6 November: Amazon looks to deliver joy with celebration of old friends

Amazon is looking to tug on heartstrings with its 2023 festive ad offering ‘Joy Ride’.

The ad depicts three old friends sat on a bench, watching young winter sledgers slide down a nearby hill. As her friends watch wistfully, one of the women is depicted adding cushioned seats to her basket.

The next day the cushions arrive and the woman presents it to her to friends. With their new seat cushions, the women go sledging down the hill, to the surprise of the children and teenagers gathered.

The ad depicts a flashback to the old friends’ younger years, and reveals this is a revival of a ritual of sledging they had when in their youth.

The campaign is soundtracked by an instrumental cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life”, performed by a 40-piece orchestra.

“We recognise that many customers may still be feeling the impact of economic uncertainty this year and that is why we’ve focused on the joy of shared experiences in our new Christmas campaign,” says Amazon general manager of EU integrated marketing, Ed Smith.

“If Amazon can play a small part in helping customers share that joy, then we will be delighted.”

Amazon global chief creative officer Jo Shoesmith adds that the ecommerce giant “wanted to give these wonderful women the chance to celebrate the different facets of themselves and how they express joy, regardless of their age.”

6 November: Deliveroo bucks tradition with choice-led Christmas ad

Deliveroo has revealed its latest Christmas campaign, designed to highlight the “festive food rituals” of the British public – and how it empowers people to conduct their own private food rituals.

Live from 6 November the campaign is “built off the insight that in the run up to Christmas, we let go of our inhibitions in favour of the weird and wonderful food traditions” built around the festive period. It highlights that, over the holidays, people will eat snacks and food at times of the day that would be anathema to usual eating habits.

Written by creative directors at agency Pablo Charlie Gee and Tian Murphy, the campaign is informed by insights collected from social listening, order data and customer research, which is then summed up in the hero 30 second TV spot. The campaign will also run across TV, radio, PR, social & digital across UK and Ireland throughout the Christmas period.

‘Anything Goes’ is a continuation of the launch of the new Deliveroo brand platform created with Pablo, “It’s all on your doorstep”, in which the delivery app continued its partnership with Director duo Watts and production house Stink.

3 November: Morrisons calls on the help of singing oven gloves for food-focused Christmas ad

 

Morrisons is putting food at the centre of its Christmas campaign this year, alongside an array of singing oven glove puppets.

The supermarket is building on its ‘More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons’ jingle -which it brought back earlier this year after a 17-year hiatus – with a festive twist, while putting the focus on those doing the cooking this Christmas.

The 60-second film from agency Leo Burnett is soundtracked by Starship’s 80s anthem ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ – sung by the mishmash of gloves and other kitchen utensils.

As well as the hero TV ad, the campaign will run across radio, press, digital display, social media and OOH. It launches on 6 November during the Coronation Street ad break on ITV.

Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer at Morrisons, says: “We’ve once again placed marketing effectiveness front and centre across the whole planning and development process of this campaign with the aim being to get really emotionally engaging work that’s highly impactful.”

3 November: Debenhams celebrity partners step into Wonderland

Debenhams has enlisted the help of celebrity guests to highlight its multi-category offering this Christmas.

Its festive campaign ‘Wonderland is Waiting’ features eight famous faces, depicted in six different “wonderlands”.

For example, Debenhams celebrity partner and ‘This Morning’ star Alison Hammond is shown standing on top of a moon as she applies Estee Lauder lipstick in the “Starry Night” wonderland. Designer and Debenhams ambassador Zandra Rhodes is depicted in the “Flower Power” world, surrounded by blooms and spraying her own Coty perfume.

The campaign also features the retailer’s ambassador and presenter Lisa Snowdon, television personality Sophie Habboo, Youtubers Sophia and Cinzia, and TikTok dance stars Brookie and Jessie in various festive lands.

The ad comes as Debenhams aims to “reaffirm” its status as a one-stop shop for great brands across the beauty, fashion and homeware categories.

“Debenhams has long been recognised as the trusted go-to retailer, that captures the hearts and imaginations of shoppers of all ages,” says Debenhams CEO Daniel Finley.

“With our Wonderland is Waiting campaign, we aim to rekindle that emotional connection and invite customers to join us in celebrating the magical nature of the holiday season.”

3 November: Vodafone catches Santa on camera in Christmas 2023 campaign

Vodafone and Ogilvy UK have focused upon ‘the power of connection’ for its Christmas campaign this year, with an ad featuring a girl and her family trying to catch Santa on camera.

Citing research that almost half of people (46%) in the UK want to see Christmas campaigns that “remind them of better times”, the ad takes an uplifting and humorous approach to celebrating the festive season. The narrative-led ad features a girl named Lily, who uses Vodafone’s tech in order to get ahead of the elusive Santa and capture the Christmas character on camera – and succeeding, to the shock of her parents.

Maria Koutsoudakis, head of brand at Vodafone UK, says: “In today’s cultural climate we have listened to the customer and understood their desire to have something optimistic and light hearted during this festive season.”

Justin Cox, MD at Team Vodafone for Ogilvy UK, says: “At this magical time of year creating special moments for friends and families is the most important role a brand can play. Vodafone and Ogilvy UK are very proud of this latest #FeeltheConnection campaign. Wherever you are, whoever you are with, feeling connected at Christmas is the ultimate gift.”

The 30 second ad, directed by Vince Squibb, is set to debut tonight during Stand Up to Cancer on Channel 4 and will run until 24 December 2023. It is also available to watch across TV, VOD, cinema, and Vodafone UK’s YouTube channel, following its debut on 3 November 2023 with a 30-second ad running on a number of spots, including ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

2 November: Baileys lassos Hannah Waddingham for Christmas ad

It wouldn’t be Christmas advert season without Baileys getting in on the act, and the brand has duly obliged with its latest campaign launching today (2 Nov) with Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham.

The Irish cream liqueur brand has long been associated with the festive season – Baileys claims to sell two bottles every second in December – and ‘Symphony of Indulgence’ plays true to form.

Waddingham, who is having a very busy festive season with this her second advert alongside her M&S appearance which was released on Wednesday (1 Nov), can be seen playing the role of conductor of the Gold Vocal Collective choir when she suggests they stop to enjoy a Baileys Christmas ‘Choc-tail’.

Charlotte Gibbon, marketing category director for gins, Pimms and Baileys at Diageo, spoke of her “excitement” in kicking off the Christmas period with this campaign with Waddingham. “This is truly the most indulgent time of year with so many treating occasions, so we invite treat lovers all over the world to join in the festive cheer and drizzle some deliciousness as they celebrate the season with friends and family.”

The ad was created by creative agency Forsman and Bodenfors and goes live across broadcast channels today.

1 November: Asda pops the Bublé in Xmas ad teaser

Asda is teasing the full release of its Christmas ad campaign for 2023 with a trailer to be shown on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today.

The teaser, which sees a trio of Asda employees following an “unusual gurgling sound” through a festively decorated warehouse to discover its source, shows off the celebrity guest the supermarket retailer has signed up to be the face of its Christmas campaign – singer Michael Bublé.

The full campaign is not set to go live until 4 November. On that date a 90-second “showstopping” Christmas ad will go live, accompanied by social and other executions of the ad using the campaign hashtag #AsdaXmasBublé.

David Hills, Asda’s chief customer officer, who took on the role in September, says: “At Asda, we absolutely love Christmas and this year we’re once again on a mission to bring that warm, festive feeling to households across the UK. Today, we’re putting the speculation to rest and confirming that the legend that is Michael Bublé is partnering with us this Christmas to put on a showstopping performance.”

The ad is a departure from Asda’s Christmas ad from last year, which saw archive footage of Will Ferrell’s character Buddy from the movie Elf superimposed into Asda stores. Instead, the teaser plays up the glittery, celebratory side of Christmas, in anticipation of the full campaign launch on the weekend.

1 November: Argos make toy mascots the stars of its Christmas campaign

Argos has put its wide range of goods at the centre of its Christmas campaign – as well as its toy mascots Connie and Trevor.

The retailer is building on its ‘There’s More To Argos’ brand platform with an ad that showcases everything it has to offer, from electronics to homeware to toys. All soundtracked by Chic’s famous party song ‘Le Freak’.

The 40-second ad sees Connie (a DesignaFriend doll) performing an elaborate dance routine across a long table as Trevor (a green Chad Valley dinosaur toy) films her. It turns out that Connie’s efforts were all in vain, however, as Trevor (voiced by This Country’s Charlie Cooper) was actually filming a selfie the entire time.

The toy duo were introduced as Argos’s brand mascots in the summer as a spin on the ‘toys come to life’ genre. They are Argos’s second brand characters after the retailer retired its alien mascots in 2014.

“There was no better way to show off what you can find at Argos this Christmas than bringing back our loveable and family-friendly characters Connie and Trevor,” says Argos head of campaigns Laura Boothby.

“In a festive-themed adventure, the dynamic duo spotlight just a few of the incredible products our customers can buy this Christmas and bring them to life in a witty and playful way – igniting the Christmas joy our customers can find at Argos.”

The ad was created by creative agency The&Partnership and was produced by Stink Films. It will debut tonight on ITV1 at 7.45pm during Emmerdale.

31 October: Pukka partners with LadBaby for Christmas pie

Pukka is launching its first limited edition pie this Christmas – and is teaming up with festive number one favourites LadBaby to raise money for the Trussell Trust.

Isaac Fisher, managing director at Pukka, says the pie maker’s customers have been asking for a festive pie for “quite some time now”.

The Christmas dinner pie, which includes festive flavours like sage and onion stuffing and chipolata sausages, was developed alongside LadBaby, also known as Mark and Rox Hoyle, the Christmas parody song duo known for their love of sausage rolls.

Each pie sold will raise money for the Trussell Trust, a charity which is working to end hunger and poverty in the UK, and who LadBaby have raised money for in the past. Pukka will donate 10p from every pie sold to the Trussell Trust.

“As well as having lots of fun with this launch, it’s important to us that we also give back – particularly at a time of year that can be difficult for many – which is why we are proud to be raising money for the Trussell Trust, supporting the fantastic work they do towards tackling hunger and poverty in the UK,” says Fisher.

The launch is supported with a PR, social media and influencer campaign to drive visibility for the NPD, along with in-store and online shopper marketing support.

30 October: Peroni Nastro Azzurro launches first global festive campaign

Peroni has launched a global winter campaign for the first time in the beer brand’s history.

‘Live Every Moment, All Year Around’ features a film, created with agency Unbound and directed by Tom Green. It is set on a snowy Torino street and features locals working together to clear the pathway leading to a local bar.

The Asahi-owned brand is positioning itself as a beer to be drunk across the festive season, with the campaign to be extended into 2024. It is being shown in cinemas and will feature on OOH activations and London bus wraps.

“We saw an opportunity to put our premium lager at the forefront of the festive season, bringing people together through an emotive narration,” says Camilla Scognamiglio, global marketing manager at Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

“By highlighting Peroni Nastro Azzurro to cinema goers during the winter months, we are ensuring the brand is front of mind for those looking to experience premium beer either in their local post viewing or at home for social occasions,” adds Jonathan Norman, global brands director at Asahi UK.