We’d be lying if we said we weren’t looking forward to this Christmas Edition of DGT Loves! If you’re new here, the team at DGT get together each month to discuss and rate our favourite Marketing campaigns for that month. We’ve loved everything from Oatly making the most of an honest review to Macmillan’s very questionable (and controversial) biscuit rating. If you’re looking for a serious round-up along with predictions for next year, then head on over to our trends blog, this is pure Christmas Marketing joy!
But alas, we’ve made it to the final edition of the year, and what an exciting edition it is. Every year the British public waits anxiously to see what Adverts the biggest and best in the business will come up with. Will they tug at the heart strings? Will it get us in the Christmas spirit? Will it be a flop? Well, we’ve watched them all and decided which are our festive favourites and which campaigns are festive flops.
A little fairy and real-life Percy Pig who happens to be very cute, what more do you want? Featuring Tom Holland and Dawn French, M&S created this festive delight that sees Percy Pig come to life for the first time. As Percy explores Stratford Food Hall, he can’t believe his eyes at all the lovely food he’s seeing and we don’t blame him, there’s food and then there’s M&S food.
Overall, it’s a simple advert. It’s nothing big or extravagant and we like that M&S stayed true to their brand by keeping it classy, and we can imagine a live animation of Percy will be a great hit with kids!
Check it out here:
Festive – 3/5
Brand – 4/5
Creativity – 3/5
Our first flop of the article comes from Sports Direct. Featuring some of the biggest sporting stars of the year, including Jack Grealish who looks like he’s stepped right out of East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’ video, a snowball fight breaks out amongst the stars along with some snippets of some very bad acting.
Whilst it’s a great opportunity to showcase their vast range of products, this advert didn’t wow us, and we felt that they probably could have done a lot more with their seemingly large casting budget. Sorry Sports Direct, but we’ll give this one a miss.
Watch it below:
Festive – 2/5
Brand – 3/5
Creativity – 1/5
This one caused a little bit of a debate at DGT HQ. Since the first John Lewis stole our hearts back in 2007, we patiently wait each year to see what the retail giant has to offer. We’ve come to expect our hearts to be filled with warmth and this year was no different, but not according to everyone in the office.
The advert, accompanied by Lola Young’s Together in Electric Dreams, includes a young boy who discovers ‘unexpected guest’ and space traveller Skye who has crash landed on earth. Overtime Nathan warms to Skye and begins to show her all the joys of Christmas by decorating the forest trees, watching festive films, and even sneaking her mince pies, until one day he rushes out to discover her spaceship is first. As Skye flies off the advert ends with ‘For a Christmas as magical as your first’.
It’s a young love story, and for some of us at least it tugged on the heart strings. For the rest of the office, it hasn’t lived up to some of the previous year’s ads. Which makes us wonder, has our expectation of John Lewis now become too high?
Let us know what you think:
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 4/5
Creativity – 4/5
We’ve been spoilt with two adverts from Amazon, one for their delivery service and another for their streaming platform, but it’s their prime advert that really stuck out for us.
This year Amazon Prime are ‘celebrating the power of a Smile, and how true joy can come from the most unlikely of friendships’ as a seemingly unhappy zookeeper befriends a hyena. It all starts when the man is watching ‘Clarkson’s farm’ on his phone at the edge of the Hyena pen, when one approaches intrigued as to what he’s watching. Once the zookeeper shows the Hyena the phone, he can’t stop laughing, this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. By the end we saw the once lonely and unhappy zookeeper finally enjoying life again really showcasing the power of a smile.
It’s a magical advert with the most unlikely friendship, but that’s what Christmas is. It’s coming together despite differences and embracing one another – it really is the most wonderful time of the year and Amazon captured this perfectly whilst only subtly pushing their platform.
Watch below:
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 5/5
Creativity – 5/5
If you asked anyone at DGT what their favourite Christmas ad, they would most likely say the Disney advert. If you haven’t seen it already, we recommend you check it out asap. Disney seamlessly (if not a little sickly) navigates the modern family set up with a stepdad attempting to form a bond with his stepchildren which isn’t always plain sailing but in the end, and in true Disney style, they live happily ever after.
The advert plays out beautifully with a very catchy ditty accompanying it and we love it because it really encapsulates the magic of Disney (and Christmas). Many families and stepparents will no doubt relate to the struggles faced and overcome in the advert – bravo Disney!
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 5/5
Creativity – 4/5
It’s the very best excuse, and the worst Christmas ad. Unfortunately, Very have ended up on the flop list for this mediocre and dare we say, annoying, Christmas ad. The overall message is starting Christmas early and sees trick or treaters receiving mince pies and families putting up decorations.
As Marketers, it’s important that your message or advert resonates with your customers and viewers, but this felt like one you could easily forget. In fact, for this blog alone I had to watch it 3 times! Unlike other brands on this list, it felt the advert lacked any magic and it certainly won’t be remembered in years to come.
Check it out here:
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 4/5
Creativity – 1/5
In this Mary Poppins-esque advert, we see Jenna Coleman being gifted a bag from her nan that she soon discovers has an unlimited bottom. Over the course of the advert Jenna pulls a variety of items from the bag such as a polaroid camera, baubles and (perhaps the best) a selection of beauty and electricals.
Whilst we cringe at the “this is what love smells like” overacted line we enjoyed the Mary Poppins element of the advert as it brought on pangs of nostalgia. Whilst the advert itself isn’t mind blowing, it does give you a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end which is what you want from a Christmas advert.
Check it out here:
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 5/5
Creativity – 4/5
If you’ve read any of our previous blogs, you know that we love the Aldi marketing department here at DGT, their wit and charm have provided some hilarious moments throughout 2021 (ahem- #Free Cuthbert), and they’ve pulled it out the bag again with Ebanana Scrooge who is a (yes- you guessed) a very miserable banana. Left on the plate as a young boy in favour of a mince pie, he’s never liked Christmas.
Guided by Kevin the Carrot (the Spirit of Christmas), Ebanana gets taken on a host of adventures to discover how magical Christmas can be. We even see ‘Marcus Radishford’ who’s “always helping children”.
You can’t go wrong with a Christmas Carol advert, but we love that Aldi have incorporated their infamous sense of humour in a beautifully heart-warming advert. And whilst the advert is filled with several puns, it ends with a lovely reminder that “For you to be happy, you need to be kind”. Whilst we do love this ad we can’t help but yearn a little for Aldi’s brilliant take off’s of John Lewis’ Christmas ads – but judging from this year’s efforts from the retail giant we think they probably took the right route!
Watch this festive delight here:
Festive – 5/5
Brand – 5/5
Creativity – 5/5
We couldn’t do a Christmas Ads review without including the one and only Coca Cola advert. This is the definition of ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ and is therefore without a doubt the best Christmas advert.. EVER. From the moment the bells ring and the music kicks in – that’s what you know it’s Christmas. By the time we see the truck in full, we’ve got goosebumps and the urge to do all things festive.
We wonder if all those years ago, Coca Cola knew they were creating something truly magical?
And there we have it, our run down of festive favourites and flops! Christmas is a great time for Brands to create some really amazing campaigns that reunite their customers and really bring their brands to life. It’s no wonder that some of them have been in the making for the last 365 days! If you have an idea for a marketing campaign, Christmas or not, get in touch and let’s create something amazing together.
Posted by Xena Graham on Monday 29th November 2021
