Christmas Advertising, Groans or Glee.

Tom Carter

TC176442

Campaign Creation

Christmas, the holiday season that is either met with groans or glee. To the £175.bn grocery sector however the festive season instils a different feeling, one of cutthroat competition and unparalleled advertising spending. With many companies solely relying on trade during November & December to make an annual profit this is when the retail giants battle it out tooth & nail. With a plethora of angles to approach creating a simple sales proposition, one that ultimately boils down to ‘buy our stuff and not theirs’, ideas are everything. I’m going to analyse some of the top retailers and how they went about marketing their wares to the public this Christmas.

Any publicity is good publicity right? I can imagine these are the words being muttered by AMV/BBDO creative directors shortly after their advert for Sainsburys was aired on the 13th of November. The three & half minute, cinematic tv spot depicts the near mythical WW1 truce between German & English soldiers on Christmas day 1914, one hundred years ago. The incredibly well crafted piece has touched the hearts of many gathering over fifteen million views on YouTube and gaining countless media impressions. Despite this achievement not all the reactions to the piece was positive, more than seven hundred people complained to the advertising standards authority describing the piece as inappropriate, offensive and obscene, not to mention historically inaccurate. However there will be no follow up by the ASA despite the backlash, rifts have been created and have stirred up a moral dilemma, a heated debate into advertising ethics continues. I will take a look at what some of the advertising industry leaders & outspoken individuals have to say on the matter as well as communicating my own opinions.

The proposition Sainsburys have developed is a simple sentiment, ‘Christmas is for sharing’, this appears alongside the Sainsbury’s logo at the end of an arguably beautiful depiction of a day in the trenches. The two characters venture out into no mans land after a German Anglo rendition of Silent Night. Upon making friends a game of footy ensues (the Germans win, naturally), after our Sainsburys Tommy slyly gifts a bar of chocolate to his German counterpart before returning to the trenches to sadly blow each other up again, probably.

Very touching, however when it becomes apparent the piece is a Sainsburys advertisement many viewers share the opinion that it undermines the very sentiment shown beforehand, not only that but people believe Sainsburys to be unjustly using & trivialising the atrocities of war to sell their groceries. Whilst the ad connotates emotions of peace, togetherness and unity it then seems to become a tad meaningless out when the tagline is delivered, perhaps if this was an ad for Amnesty International it wouldn’t have got the same amount of flack. Many would argue that this ad has gone too far in manipulating our emotions in order for us to feel a certain way towards a brand. I myself have mixed feelings about this conclusion, is it that different from feature films or computer games that use historical events as a basis to sell? Having grown up watching television I also know that in the little gaps between programmes is when adverts plays with a purpose of selling stuff, why are people so surprised? Political commentator/public idiot Russell Brand has a lot to say on the matter condemning the advert on his YouTube channel, ‘The Trews’, he describes it as ‘sick, evil, twisted genius’ and whilst I don’t care much for Brand I feel he does have a point. The film itself is so captivating and so emotive that I would think the majority would perhaps miss the apparent offensiveness by not really considering the sales message – which is the point of the advertising.

Whilst the advert could be described as a being ill of taste it really is emotive – AMV/BBDO has succeeded in attaching a strong emotion to a brand. Dave Trott believes nothing is sacred, ‘anything can be used as long as it has a strong relevant tie back to the brand or product’, which I cant really see a clear one. Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy thinks this advert is more of a strategic decision & that Sainsburys, unable to compete with the likes of John Lewis, have found a way to sell the spirit of Christmas in a rather indirect manor. He goes on to say, ‘There's always going to be a certain number who feel you're using millions of deaths to "sell wrapping paper" but most people will like it.’ 

I think the best way to treat this is to remember it’s just an advert, take from it what you will, yes its reason for being is to promote a brand but it communicates much more than that and to be frank I don’t see any other media delivering as heartfelt, educational and valuable messages to the masses as advertising does.

Co-Op, in my mind, have never been one of the biggest ambassadors of Christmas spirit despite this I feel their latest campaign really communicates a human insight that is extremely relevant to the brand and festive period. Working together with Leo Burnett, a thirty second & two ten second ads have been created under the proposition that ‘Help is only a Co-Op away this Christmas’, the ad rolled out later than most others, airing on the 10th of December. The Co-Op has more stores than other supermarkets and is open later; it is this fact that has informed the single-minded proposition.

        The executions are based around the truth that forgotten items, be it one of the huge number of ‘essential’ Christmas food products, can just pop into your head at any given moment. The ad shows the sudden outburst epiphanies by people in public much to the confusion and bewilderment of passer-by’s. “Marzipan!”. “Crackers!”. “Chipolatas!”. “Gingernuts!”. These incidents occur at Christmas time more than other due to the sheer amount of responsibility we put on ourselves including the countless foodstuffs we deem necessary to create that festive feeling. I feel the advert is aimed once again at the person with the shopping duty to either head themselves into Co-op or to boss friends & family to head to the nearest store to pick up that disremembered bag of sprouts. I feel Leo Burnett have really hit on something that will resonate with the masses through their human truth.

        What I like about this campaign is that Co-Op are playing to their strengths and not getting caught up in the tedious gimmicks that are often adopted by brands at this time of year. The piece of communication is clear and concise and uses humour to connect with its audience rather than the tiresome trend of heartstring pulling emotive content.

I’m going to get this out now rather than later, I love Lidl. The feeling I get when I shop at Lidl is that I’m at market - not a huge regimented replicated chain supermarket. Fruit and vegetables aren’t all bagged up and wrapped in plastic, their products look & feel fresh, they have a great selection of authentic continental products, stuff that is different that I possibly haven’t tried before, not to mention that crazy miscellaneous aisle running through the centre, who knows what you might find there! The fact is I find Lidl kind of exciting compared to other supermarkets and as sad as it is to admit I found their latest and on going campaign, Lidl Suprises by TBWA to be extremely well fitting & well deserved for the brand. It’s very rare I watch an advert and think, ‘that’s what I would have done’. I’m glad that TBWA have created advertising that changes the stigma that previously surrounded Lidl by thinking about what the brand has to offer & communicating those benefits.