What will it take for brands to shine in golden quarter?

With just 11 weeks until Christmas, retailers are already gearing up for the festive season. And, with recent research suggesting that 70% of Brits are planning to spend big this year, there is plenty to play for.

But, as ever, how can brands stand out, capture festive spending and encourage consumers to shop with them? Decision Marketing quizzes three industry chiefs about their top tips for the so-called “golden quarter”…

For Beano Brain director of strategy Helenor Gilmour, if it’s kids you are after, a once and done Christmas ad approach is never going to land. So how can you stand out with the younger demographic this Christmas?

“In our annual review of the Coolest Brands according to kids, the brands that did well in 2024 have a few things in common that can be ramped up to help stand out at Christmas time. Brands that upped the funny acquired cool points with kids – those knowing how to make kids laugh do well in our rankings.

“Humour is playground currency and welcomes them into the brand’s world. So creating LOL moments within their Christmas marketing campaigns should be a priority this year. We also know that intergenerational enjoyment is important for kids too, and the brands leaning into emotive sharing opportunities with family and friends, whether food & drink, gaming, play or music performed well.

“Brands that are on the pulse of kids’ calendars (and key traditions) appear more relevant to them, especially those that encourage shareability. That can mean creating a home for feel-good Christmas movies, like Netflix, or establishing rituals unique to the brand, like Oreo dunking or twisting, but with an extra sprinkling of festive cheer.

“Consider creating spaces with low barriers for entry for kids this festive season too. Despite living digital lives, kids and teens still love bricks and mortar, they thrive on the tangible experience of exchanging physical money for a purchase. Equally, they love spending time with their family and friends, so by investing in physical and accessible retail spaces that welcome them, retailers could win the hearts and wallets of kids and teens far beyond Christmas.”

Meanwhile, Analytic Partners associate vice-president Justine O’Neill says: “This holiday season – with its promise of a booming Golden Quarter – will be the ultimate chance to put the retail media strategies that brands have been rolling out throughout the year to the test.

“According to our ROI Genome, nearly 1 out of 5 digital dollars today are spent on retail media. It has become a popular tool for capturing first-party data, but brands are yet to truly optimise their spend in this area as the sheer volume of data generated by retail media networks can draw brands into a data black hole.

“To efficiently capture holiday spend over the busy months ahead, brands need to understand their retail media performance within context of the full marketing mix. For example, an ad on a retail network will create sales on that network while also influencing decisions away from that retailer online or in a physical store due to changing customer behaviours and new opportunities from ecommerce – and vice versa.

“Digital is good, however digital alone is bad, and retailer-specific ads, such as on Amazon, lift sales both on and off the intended platform and have a significant halo effect on non-platform sales. By measuring and understanding the full impact of retail media network both on and offline, brands can optimise their strategy for best impact before, during and after the festive season.”

Finally, Rapp strategy partner Heidi Stephens says it may be tempting for brands to seize the first glimmer of financial recovery, roll it in glitter, and encourage consumers to spend big this Christmas. But doing so fails to acknowledge that a significant proportion of the country is still in the grip of the cost of living crisis, tied to higher mortgage costs, energy cap rises, and the mother of all financial hangovers from recent years.

Stephens adds: “The predicted increase in spend is likely to be heavily weighted towards specific demographics and income groups, so assuming that everyone will feel the holiday cheer risks a mis-step that clangs harder than The Carol of the Bells.

“But that doesn’t mean brands can’t encourage customers to spend – it’s about deepening your understanding of your holiday audience and targeting with both precision and empathy. Indulgence means different things to different people – for some, it will be a return to investment luxury gifts, and for others it will be choosing a leading brand over the own label of holidays past.

“Both can deliver a warm and fuzzy feeling of comfort and joy, and provide an opportunity to create a meaningful connection with customers that will last longer than Christmas leftovers.”