It’s Christmas once again, and with it comes the familiar flood of holiday ads. The marketing industry loves to dissect, evaluate and celebrate the work that graces our screens. But what, exactly, makes a great Christmas ad?
When it comes to effectiveness, there’s a growing consensus: repetition works. Why invest in a new ad for one holiday season when it’s more impactful—and memorable—to rerun a campaign over several years?
Kantar’s recent chart of the “Top 15 Christmas Ads of 2024” reveals a telling trend. The four most popular ads are all repeats: iconic spots from brands like Cadbury, Coca-Cola (with two ads) and KFC.
What’s fascinating is that the next three slots are claimed by new ads from ongoing campaigns: Marks & Spencer food, Morrisons and Argos. It seems that new creative efforts tend to underperform in terms of short-term effectiveness.
The takeaway? Don’t be too quick to retire successful, well-established campaigns.
Speaking of campaigns, it would be remiss of me not to mention BIG’s latest work for Loganair. This marks the fourth Christmas ad we’ve created for the airline, and 2024’s offering is our biggest yet—both in terms of budget, crew, location and storyline.
For Christmas ads, I believe you can go one of three routes: funny, emotional or just a little bit weird. This year, we’ve leaned firmly into the emotional territory. The story revolves around the heartwarming anticipation of reuniting with loved ones at the airport after a long time apart. That rush of excitement as you wait for someone to walk through the arrivals gate? It’s palpable. And it’s something Loganair can really own, especially given the contrast between the bustling atmosphere at larger airports like Heathrow and the intimate feel of places like Islay. With cameos from Loganair’s own staff, it all comes together in a powerful, moving way.
One crucial element in any great Christmas ad is the soundtrack. John Lewis has long been the master of this — think back to Lily Allen’s cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know or Richard Ashcroft’s Sonnet this year. For Loganair, the CEO was keen to use a familiar track from Love Actually — specifically, the Prime Minister’s Love Theme. But upon listening, we quickly realised that the build-up of the song was too short to match our storyline. The emotional crescendo of the piece kicks in after just eight or nine seconds, but we needed thirty to forty seconds for our narrative to work. Thankfully, the licensing arrangement allowed us to recreate the music, giving us the freedom to extend the build-up and create something that felt right for the ad.
Lastly, my favourite Christmas ad* of 2024 has to be “Ray” for The Entertainer. This one lands firmly in the “weird” category—but in the best possible way. The ad taps into the universal truth that kids often lose interest in toys as quickly as they fall in love with them. The song, It Must Have Been Love, is a well-known song from Roxette, but here it’s reimagined in a quirky, almost dystopian way and sung by English Indie artist, Baxter Jury. Ray, a fluffy toy, narrates and sings in a slightly jaded, bored tone. There’s humour, but what I noticed is the complete lack of traditional Christmas trappings — no trees, no snow, no decorations. This ad could easily run at any time of year, and yet, it somehow still feels perfect for Christmas. It’s great.
At BIG, we understand that great campaigns aren’t just for Christmas — they’re for all seasons. So, if you’re planning your next ad and want to create something that lasts, please get in touch.
*You can’t pick your own as your favourite, right?
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