‘Tis the season to be jolly, and this time of year we certainly are. I have been busy searching the internet for the best examples of digital marketing creativity, novelty and fun. This is a key time for big brands to broadcast their message and engage with their audiences and in this blog, we will explore some of this year's best Christmas marketing campaigns from around the world.
Yellow M&M tries to save Christmas
It’s all hands on deck: Christmas is in danger and Santa is missing in action. This campaign follows on from M&M’s 1996 campaign “Faint” where the Red and Yellow M&M’s discover Santa delivering gifts and both Santa and the Red M&M faint when they see each other. In this follow-up campaign, the fate of Christmas is left in the less-than-capable hands of the Yellow M&M. Gifts are being delivered to the wrong people and elves must spring into action to save Christmas.
Credit: M&M's, 'Faint 2: A Very Yellow Sequel'
This campaign has been released across Europe, Russia and the Americas. M&M’s teamed up with agencies CLM BBDO, BBDO NY and Mediacom Global. The video was directed by Reynald Gresset and the Santa himself was played by Ray Gardener. Read more here.
Sometimes even Santa gets it wrong
With so many accents around the world, it can be difficult for Santa to understand everyone. This leads to some hilarious outcomes in this year’s campaign from Air New Zealand. While Santa may be very good at Chinese, he can struggle to understand the Kiwi accent. As he is taking orders from boys and girls, Santa starts to get a little surprised when some ask for an “ear plane” and a “puggy bank”.
Titled “A Very Merry Mistake”, the campaign includes the hashtags #MirryChristmus and #AirNZXmas. Air New Zealand teamed up with creative agency Host/Havas, director Alex Roberts and media agency Dentsu Aegis Network to get their message out. You can read more here.
A little boy puts Santa on a diet
Santa is known for being jolly but what if he was too big to fit down a chimney and not able to deliver presents? This is the thought that leads to one boy helping Santa to lose weight by replacing his cakes and treats with healthier alternatives. French supermarket Intermarché wanted to look at the lighter side of things and promote healthier eating in its 2017 Christmas campaign, titled “I’ve Dreamt So Much.”
Credit: Intermarché, 'I've Dreamt So Much'
In this campaign Intermarché teamed up with creative director Alexander Herve and strategic planning from Romain Roux. Read more here.
Getting Closer with Heathrow airport
Following the heart-warming success of its 2016 campaign, “Coming Home for Christmas”, the Heathrow Bears – Doris and Edward – are back. In this instalment we return to see their entire 50-year love story. The scene in the arrivals hall is wonderful and really allows people to connect emotionally with the story. We also see popular fashion from the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
In this campaign, Heathrow airport teamed up with Havas, Outsider Productions and The Mill. This 50-year love story was also helped by British Airways who provided an original BOAC aircraft and vintage cabin crew uniforms. Read more here.
Give a little love with Samsung
Samsung has changed its creative direction in recent years, moving from product functionality towards human experiences connected to its products. In this year’s campaign titled “Concierge”, we see a very helpful apartment doorman doing his very best to bring a little festive spirit to his residents. With Samsung products lightly sprinkled around the scenes, everyone gets into the spirit and gives a little love back to their favourite doorman.
Samsung teamed up with Omnicom-owned London agency adam&eveDDB, director Gary Freedman and included the song “Give a little, get a little” by Ella Fitzgerald. You can read more here.
Moz the Monster and John Lewis
Imagine this scene: in the nights leading up to Christmas, you are tucked away in bed but can’t get to sleep because your friendly bedroom monster won’t stop snoring. This the picture painted in this year’s Christmas campaign by John Lewis. In this ad, we see a night-time friendship grow between Joe and Moz the Monster, and the two can be seen rolling around and playing games late into the night.
Credit: John Lewis, 'Mox the Monster'
As usual, John Lewis is leveraging its store network with Moz the Monster window displays in its flagship shop on Oxford Street, London. Other John Lewis stores will feature Monster Maker stations where customers can create their own monster selfies. Moz toys and mugs are available with a portion of proceeds going to Barnardos Children’s Charity. John Lewis teamed up with agency adam&eveDDB, director Michel Gondry and of course Moz the Monster. Read more here.
Build together with Lego
What Christmas would be complete without my personal favourite childhood toy, Lego. This year sees Lego Santa accidently separated from his elves. But, showing us that we can build anything that our imaginations can dream up, Lego Sensei Wu and Santa work together to reunite Santa with everyone and help to save Christmas.
In this campaign, Lego Australia teamed up with agency CHE Proximity, executive creative director Ant White and director Kyra Bartley. Read more here.
That's a wrap!
In this blog, we’ve covered some of the best and brightest Christmas marketing campaigns from 2017. What are your favourite Christmas marketing campaigns from this year and what ones can you still remember from childhood? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
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