Avoid that Lump of Coal in Your Marketing this Holiday Season
As a 32-year old male with over 9 years of experience in advertising, my naturally cynical nature goes to 11 when it comes to holiday time. Holiday puns and co-opted carols become the norm. Children and animals are trotted out at a furious pace. Heart strings are tugged, spirits are high, and luxury vehicles are adorned with bows you can see from space. It’s enough to make this ad man a little less than jolly.
But! There are some classics in this space. The Coke polar bears are a perfect example of holiday advertising that is fun, emotional, and best of all, original. Though I was a mere lad at the time, I still remember the Folger’s “Peter Comes Home for Christmas” spot, wherein college-student Peter wakes his family with a freshly brewed pot of Folger’s. Norelco’s Santa ad is a classic, as is Budweiser’s original Clydesdales ad.
A more recent example of fantastic holiday advertising would be Apple’s “Misunderstood” spot. This spot showed a teenager on his iPhone, seemingly missing out on all the family holiday fun because he’s glued to his screen. That is, until it’s revealed that he’s been using his Apple device to create a holiday family movie. Yet again, this is a great way to showcase a product and its capabilities without clinging to tired holiday tropes or overselling the product.
There are ways to create great holiday advertising that stands out. You just need to remember a few key items.
Where Brands Fail in Holiday Marketing
Carol Clichés
If you want to see me go full Grinch, play me a commercial that features nothing but people changing the lyrics to a well-known carol. This is such a tired cliché that Congress should place a moratorium on it for the next 70 years, enough time for us to forget how bad these spots are. Aside from being derivative, these ads do nothing to differentiate you within the space. Countless brands are going to use the same songs to the same ends. Why will a customer suddenly remember yours?
Muddled Messaging
Actually, I do remember one major retailer that used a parody carol in its ad. The only reason I remember it is because the song was about receiving great deals, yet the spot didn’t include a single deal. If you have a specific message to get across, focus on that, don’t work so hard to make it a “holiday” ad. Remember, if it’s airing in December, it’s already a holiday ad. You don’t have to sacrifice your message for the season.
Forgetting Themselves
You spend all year to build a brand, only to get away from your tone and voice simply because it’s holiday time. Why? It’s jarring to watch a brand like Honda suddenly create ads with Michael Bolton in them (which I guess could be said of most brands). How does that fit?
Where Brands Succeed in Holiday Advertising
Holiday Relevance
A short Google search of “best holiday ad campaigns” highlighted the connection between all of those classic holiday ads: contextual relevance, both with the brand and the season. Apple’s ad showcased its products capabilities in an easy-to-envision scenario. Folger’s connected that morning wake up with a son coming home for the holidays. These ads marry the season and the brand in a perfectly genuine way.
If you’re a tool company, showing Dad hanging the lights using his tools to delight his family is a natural holiday play. If you’re a cleaning company, showing a cleaner helping someone finish the dishes faster so they can rejoin the family party is natural. Find your natural.
Move to Action
Some of the best recent campaigns have included hashtags or charitable components. In one instance, Expedia showed Santa flying around the world to earn Expedia+ points, which could then be given to St. Jude’s for cancer research. Viewers were then asked to do the same. This is a perfect way for a brand like Expedia to drive charity in a way that’s still relevant to the brand.
On the hashtag front, TD Bank created #MakeTodayMatter, which gave everyday people in 24 cities $30,000 to help their communities. Not only does this incorporate the idea of giving, it also incorporates community. Boots UK created #SpecialBecause, asking people to not only send gifts, but communicate why the recipient is special to them. This simple idea furthers the idea of gift giving as not an act of necessity but one of thoughtfulness.
There are countless others creating their own holiday hashtags, which makes it all the more important for brands to create unique digital experiences. Simply expecting people to participate because it’s a hashtag is asking for trouble. Instead, take a relatable avenue of the season and give it further meaning. The above two examples took the idea of giving and added a new layer of emotion.
Be Cynical
I’m not saying this because I’m cynical, I’m saying this because it will help you avoid obvious ploys that are unnatural to your brand. If your aim is to create an emotional experience, consider how many of these exist in the market. Is yours better? Is it natural? Are you simply aiming for an emotional angle because it’s somewhat easy? Remember, consumers are bombarded with messages hoping to produce tears of joy. By lumping yourself in with an emotional message that falls flat, your marketing will look like a cheap ploy aimed at low hanging fruit.
Great holiday advertising is a challenge, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of caroling parodies and family reunions, but if you dig deep to find your brand’s true relevance to the season, you will experience success that can last far behind December 25th.