It won’t be long before the first 2025 Christmas ads land (they’ve been getting earlier every year) and, much more than the various award schemes, they’re an indication not just of creative standards but the overall health of the UK ad business. Just as Super Bowl spots play the same role in the US.
It’s not that long ago that such ads made the running in the tabloids, much excitement was generated by what John Lewis and agency adam&eveDDB would do that year and what its rivals (just about every other seasonal advertiser) would do in response. For years Omnicom’s AMV BBDO went head to head with its impertinent sibling for Sainsbury’s – although it wasn’t clear exactly how they competed (Waitrose was separate.)
Christmas ads will still get a lot of attention (John Lewis is now handled by Saatchi & Saatchi, Waitrose by Wonderhood and Sainsbury’s by New Commercial Arts.) But the days when crowds would gather in Oxford Street to see a JL toy from the ad in the store window have likely gone.
But Christmas remains a time when big advertisers forget about algorithms, performance marketing and all the rest of it (although not the amplifier social media) and try to make a splash in the (possibly forlorn) hope that consumers will love them. The Super Bowl’s the same: in February some advertisers will be coughing up $9m for 30 seconds (many others do regional ads for less instead.) It’s the once a year opportunity for tech-swamped CMOs to pretend they’re old style marketing directors.
Christmas ads are, therefore, a showcase for the best the battered creative advertising industry can do and it’s the same in some other European countries, notably Germany. Many such ads will have been completed already, planning for some starts in January.
Last year in the UK Saatchi was arguably the winner for Waitrose with its whodunnit mini-series (below, which did engage the tabs) and then, mysteriously, lost the business to Wonderhood although it still handles John Lewis. Havas lost Asda to Lucky Generals although Havas’ Christmas ad may already be in the can. A&E and AMV will be on the retail/supermarket sidelines. All the supermarkets, even mighty Tesco, will be minding its step as the UK is being gripped by yet another cost of living crisis, much of it fuelled by food prices.
Let battle commence: a good showing from some of them at least is rather important for the industry as a whole.
