It seems there is a common theme this year with all the big company’s Christmas adverts, and strangely enough it isn’t showcasing the many products and gifts you can buy. It is much deeper than that, with each company putting their own spin on what Christmas means besides giving shampoo sets and socks to our nearest and dearest. If you want to view the adverts, click on the image.
The advert that has caused the biggest storm this year has to be the John Lewis advert. This includes a boy and his friend, Monty the Penguin, going through the run up to Christmas, showing a strong friendship and enjoying many moments together. The main focus of the fairly long advert, just over 2 minutes long, is one of companionship and love, which sadly Monty the Penguin doesn’t have. The climax on Christmas morning is when the boy, Sam, gives Monty a gift, and it is of course a female penguin. Although this advert shows very little of what products and gifts John Lewis sell, it creates a whole new brand, namely Monty the Penguin, which people will then recognize with the department store. John Lewis has also brought out a range of penguin toys including a book and a plushy toy, which I imagine will be big sellers. The overall idea is giving someone something they really want, which in this case was a friend, but this can also be transferred to everything John Lewis sell, suggesting that you can get someone something they really want from this store.
Marks and Spencer’s have strayed away from their usual celebrity packed adverts, going with two models portraying Christmas fairies that fly around making Christmas better. It is similar to John Lewis in that it doesn’t show a massive amount of the products they offer, and the message is of a similar nature, the one of giving someone something they really want. Although it is a sweet advert, it doesn’t quite have the impact that John Lewis has.
The Coco-Cola advert is what many people consider to be the start of Christmas when it first airs on T.V, and it seems that this year it has been beaten to it by John Lewis. These adverts are usually filled with a Coca-Cola truck and a very jolly Santa Claus, this year didn’t disappoint. The theme is “How to make someone happy”, and it focuses on the little things, such as making someone smile by drawing faces on snow covered cars and installing a disco ball.
The final advert that has to be mentioned is from Boots. They too have decided to try something different than their normal formula, opting to go with what starts as what looks like a miserable group of people having to go somewhere really early on Boxing Day morning. It turns out that they are going to celebrate with a family member who has been working during Christmas Day. The tagline for the campaign is “because she’s special”, tying in with the previous adverts they have done throughout the year. Like the previous adverts mentioned, there is little show of the products and gifts you can get from Boots.
It seems that all the big retailers have opted to go for a more artistic approach, choosing to go for themes that show what joy Christmas can bring if you are sharing it with someone special, as opposed to what gifts you can by them.
It is clear that a striking and powerful advert can draw a company plenty of attention, John Lewis and Monty the Penguin are still trending on Twitter and the advert has been out over a week now. These adverts are produced on a massive budget, it is believed that John Lewis spent £1million, but there are other ways to advertise your local business on a smaller scale that can be very effective. These include using Google Adwords, adverts in local publications and B2B marketing techniques. If you would like help in local advertising for your business, contact us today. https://thestudio4.co.uk/