Written by Ally Lang, Head of Maple Street Creative
They used to say of Frank Sinatra that if you sang like him you were copying, and if you didn’t sing like him, you were doing it all wrong. Then 1969 came along and a whole host of things made the 54-year-old seem not nearly as relevant as he once was. In an effort to maintain his popularity he recorded big band versions of songs by The Beatles, Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon. Where’s this going? Well, for the past decade John Lewis have been pretty much setting the standard for seasonal schmaltz, but right now, like back in the late sixties, we’ve all stopped, looked around, and everybody’s seen what’s going down, and what’s going down is a more grown-up, complicated world where monsters under beds and parents smuggling rocking horses upstairs are not going to resonate in any way that’s positive. And neither would some of the reported budgets involved, particularly with unemployment and borrowing where they are. So, how have brands approached their Christmas messaging in 2020?
In the main, they’ve gone for sticking it out and trying once more to out John Lewis, John Lewis. But there are some notable exceptions; a very post-modern Lidl animation, a great creative narrative from Papa John’s, and the evolution of the Burberry brand is complete with some high kicks down Petticoat Lane. Though a modern interpretation of rain as ice is stretching it a bit. Of these three, my favourite is Papa John’s, which is very simple, very relevant, and perfectly executed.
Those ads that have stuck with the sentimental include a Disney film that seems ambivalent to historical accusations of the corporation’s acculturation, and Amazon’s two-minute tribute to getting stuff delivered, even when the ballet’s cancelled. There’s a lot of good to be said for the Amazon creative, but for me, the transition between narrative and ‘oh, hello, here’s the brand’ is a bit clunky, and let’s be honest, with a different call to action it could just as easily be an ad for Coke, McDonald’s or John Lewis. They sell torches, don’t they?
Despite the drop in Christmas Ad spending, the big guns have all come out looking to deliver something different and something special. Christmas ads are an easy thing to get wrong too as people feel far more connected with the occasion than they do with your brand, and unless you can join the dots between emotion and product then you’re in danger of missing.
As well as the Papa John’s serving, my top three this year includes Deliveroo and TK Maxx. The online food company hit on a recognisable creative, which is the only one in this whole list, where you could put it on the radio and it would still be your big idea. And TK Maxx, just because there are people behind this ad that have been able to communicate through humour that they feel the way we do: about the year, about Christmas, and about doing something nice once in a while. If you can successfully put your consumer’s world in yours, then you can demonstrate relevance, values, and a connection. All the ads listed have tried to portray something of the times, but of course, to do that you not only need to try and understand what’s going on but also how people feel about what’s going on. Like the Sinatra wannabes, copying doesn’t cut it, and like ol’ Blue Eyes himself learnt to his cost, a cover song can only take you so far.
