Christmas number one 'no guarantee of sales success'

Brand owners might strive each year to get their festive ads to ride high in the popularity charts but success is not all about a big TV extravaganza, with a multichannel strategy far more likely to drive a commercially triumphant festive campaign.

So says a new study from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), based on a survey of 2,085 adults carried out by YouGov, which compared the sales uplift from last year’s ads against consumer recall and preference.

It saw both Aldi and M&S record the greatest gains from their ads, despite Coca-Cola’s Holidays are Coming campaign being seen as more “iconic”.

According to the figures, a third of UK adults considered Coke’s winking Santa the best ad last year, leading to the brand outperforming the sector sales benchmark by 7.7%.

However, both M&S’ Magic & Sparkle (6%) and Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot (7%) were far less popular yet helped the retailers to outperform the sales benchmark by 10.2% and 11.2% respectively.

CIM course director for brand management Paul Hitchens said: “Christmas is a crucial period for brands and their marketing teams, making and breaking reputations and trading performance for the whole year.

“What is clear is that it’s no longer sufficient to rely solely on a TV ad. Successful campaigns leverage social media, user generated content, physical products and in store experiences to capitalise on the festive spending window. It’s that approach that saw Kevin rather than Coke crowned the real thing.”

Interestingly, John Lewis’ festive marketing campaign took second place in the popularity stakes, with 27% of consumers considering it the best ad but the retailer did not dislose whether it had led to a significant sales increase.

Barbour’s Shaun the Sheep ad, meanwhile, made up to the top 5, with 1% of consumers having it down as their favourite, leading to the brand outperforming the sector sales benchmark by 1.8%.

Overall, the study found that festive ads are seen to be a key part of the excitement and build up to Christmas, with a third of under 34s actively seeking them out online rather than waiting for them to appear on TV.

The top three elements selected as key for a successful festive ad are a loveable character, emotional storytelling and a memorable jingle or slogan.

Hitchens concluded: “October to December represents a ‘golden quarter’ for professional marketers and is a unique opportunity to contribute to long-term brand building and short term sales.

“We can see this evidenced by John Lewis’ decision to split its festive ad into a trilogy this year, backed by the return of its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ slogan. Let’s hope for Saatchi & Saatchi that it’s a success rather than a undercooked turkey come retail results day.”

Christmas number one ‘no guarantee of sales success’

Be the first to comment on "Christmas number one ‘no guarantee of sales success’"

Leave a comment Cancel reply