When Festive Branding Strikes

Complete this sentence: You know Christmas is coming when ________. How many television adverts and storefronts raced through your mind? Nowadays, these marketing campaigns are as intrinsic to the festive season as mince pies and advent calendars

Pretty much every brand dons their Santa Hat at this time of year, hoping to set themselves apart from the competition throughout this oh-so-magical season. Be it through lovable characters and heart-warming stories (we’ve all fallen for Monty the penguin), humour (Irn Bru, anyone?), or something more on the classic side (Santa Claus prefers Coca-Cola), nothing beats a good Christmas ad.

Big retail names are boosting brand awareness by not only dominating our screens and high streets, but also through speaking their customers’ language and projecting the by-products of their ads into the realms of popular culture. One example of this is last year’s John Lewis ad, with Lily Allen’s cover of ‘Somewhere only we know’ hopping straight into the charts. On an even bigger scale, Coca-Cola played a big part in the shaping of the modern-day perception of Santa Claus himself!

Perhaps big brands are just getting into the festive spirit? Or maybe they wait until the excited inner children of the nation rise closer to the surface before striking with festive love, laughs, tears and tunes. Whatever the primary motivation behind these jolly masterpieces, we’re too overcome with festive joy to delve too deeply. With two days to go, we hope you’re joining the big brands in singing, dancing and… enjoying fizzy drinks?

Merry Christmas everyone!