December 23, 2022
4 Holiday Ads Striking the Perfect Chord
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but consumers are still out looking for the right holiday gifts for loved ones. Our eBook Four Ways To Win the 2022 Holidays reveals strategies brands can use to motivate customers to action. These four key steps include:
- Serve Up the Right Fit
- Make Your Consumer the Hero
- Tell the Right Story
- Inspire Loyalty
So, are retailers this season on the right track and adopting one of the steps outlined above? We searched around and found four brands that are striking the perfect chord.
Tesco Serves Up the Right Fit
The Christmas Party #StandforJoy | Tesco
For many in the UK, 2022 has been annus horribilis. The war in Ukraine has caused energy prices to skyrocket. Year over year inflation hit 9.6% in October. Not one, not two, but three prime ministers inhabited 10 Downing Street. The British pound saw incredible turmoil, falling to its lowest level against the dollar in over 35 years (it has since recovered). The Bank of England forecasts the longest recession in its history. And to top it all off, there was a change in the monarchy after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The average British consumer, just trying to make ends meet, could probably use some joy this holiday season. The supermarket chain Tesco realizes this. The company released a brilliant ad that presents an imaginary new political party — the Christmas Party — which is running on a platform of bringing joy by cutting prices and making items (particularly wine!) affordable.
The TV spot is a great example of our narrative that says — Serve Up the Right Fit. This entails meeting the consumer in their current reality, which, in the UK, is a time of tight budgets and a shortage of cheer. Tesco’s Christmas addresses this directly and aims to make the season a bit merrier!
Macy’s Makes the Customer the Hero
Speechless | Macy’s Give Love, Give Style.
In this simple holiday ad from Macy’s, a man presents a woman with a gift (jewelry) and she doesn’t know what to say. She’s left literally speechless. And when he tells her she can return it, she jumps up and hugs him. The tagline flashes, Give Love, Give Style.
The ad is simple yet effective, and reflects our narrative: Make Your Customer the Hero. As a brand, you want to make your customer feel like they’ve found the product just for them,
at the right place and time. And when you do that, you position your customer as a protagonist in the buyer’s journey who succeeds in the end. This ad is saying to consumers: Give love, give style, and you can be a hero who leaves someone speechless — in a good way!
Australia’s Post Office Tells the Right Story
Spread the Merry | Australia Post
What would you do if you looked up in the sky and saw a giant inflatable Santa Claus floating in the wind? You’d probably stare and smile. That’s what happens in this ad from the Australia Post: Yes, the post office from the land Down Under! A giant Santa Claus floats for hundreds of miles before a wind turbine brings it to the ground. But luckily, the inflatable has an address and a Good Samaritan mails it back to its rightful (and delighted!) owners.
In this “Spread the Merry” spot, Australia Post is inspiring people to, well, spread some good cheer. After all, who doesn’t like receiving some happiness delivered in a parcel? The campaign is a good example of the Tell the Right Story narrative we highlight in our eBook. Telling the right story during the holiday season means inspiring celebration, and the Australia Post is putting consumers in the festive mood by encouraging them to mail someone good cheer.
Mars Wrigley Seeks to Inspire Loyalty
#BringBackBounty | Mars Wrigley
What’s your favorite candy bar? Is it Snickers? Twix? Perhaps a Mars bar? Well, few would say Bounty, and the company behind the chocolate and coconut treat knows it. Over in the UK, Bounty has been on the receiving end of online hate, with many calling for its removal from holiday celebrations. It seems there’s just no place for it among the other candies. In a new TV spot, an unloved and unwanted Bounty bar goes missing over the holiday season. He’s later welcomed by a kind elderly woman who shows him that his other candy friends truly miss him. And so Bounty returns to his crew, and into the hearts of consumers.
The #BringBackBounty campaign is cleverly designed to ignite or Inspire Loyalty among consumers — a powerful narrative this holiday season (and all year round, for that matter). It’s a clever move by Bounty, as it is 5–25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one. The #BringBackBounty ads are trying to encourage loyalty to the treat by tugging at the heart strings and reminding customers that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
Motivate Customers to Act with Persado
The economic environment is challenging — not just in the U.S., but around the world. However, the holidays present an opportunity for even those on a budget to treat themselves and their loved ones. By crafting the evocative narratives that reflect the four steps we’ve outlined, retailers can motivate customers to click, shop, and spend their hard-earned money with their brand. Check out the full eBook Four Ways To Win the 2022 Holidays for more details. Persado’s Motivation AI platform helps marketers produce personalized messaging that resonates with each individual consumer and engages them to act. If you’re a retailer interested in integrating personalization into your marketing materials, let’s set up a meeting.
