‘Tis the season to be jolly! Cue the mistletoe, stocking stuffers, Christmas cookies (biscuits for our non-North American friends!), and joy to every family!
As the holidays quickly approach, we are bombarded by a multitude of holiday advertisements and promotions as we rush to buy gifts and host parties for friends and family. The challenge becomes for brands and advertisers to work together to design a strong campaign that balances the warm and cheerful tones of the holiday season with their brand and key messaging.
And the winter holidays are a critical time – not just for making sure that all our presents come in before Christmas Day – when retail brands allocate large ad spend towards festive adverts. In the UK alone, WARC and AA estimate that British Christmas ads spend will reach a towering £10.5 billion across different media.
While a significant investment, the effort is well appreciated by audiences as they wait in anticipation for their beloved brands and characters to re-emerge from their 10-month slumber to when Christmas ads are launched before the holidays. Almost three out of five consumers report that they “love” Christmas ads, with approximately 56% reporting that they look forward to seeing Christmas ads on TV. And to draw audiences in and to keep them engaged, the key piece to the puzzle is ensuring there is a strong emotional connection between viewer, ad creative and brand.
Our partner Kantar has released their analysis on a variety of Christmas ads that they have pretested with their Link suite. And by incorporating our Emotion AI technology, we have identified some key themes in what makes a festive ad truly magical.
What is the magic behind the 2024 UK Christmas ads?
The magic of the 2024 UK Christmas ads is their strong emotional engagement with viewers, corroborating the importance of emotion in driving success. Collectively, expressiveness (emotional engagement), which is captured via people’s facial expressions on camera (with their permission, of course!) is significantly higher for these holiday spots versus UK ads in general.
What’s interesting is that so many of these ads tell a powerful story that takes viewers on an emotional journey... and the brand is the hero for a wonderful holiday celebration with family and / or friends. But there’s no magic formula – the ads aren’t all sentimental or funny – they evoke a higher-than-average emotional response on many dimensions – from Smiles and Smirks to Sadness and Sentimentality as well as Surprise. The chart below looks at a comparison between UK Christmas ads from this year and the UK market norm.
What are some factors that drive such strong success?
We did a deep dive review of people’s emotional responses from Affectiva’s Emotion AI (facial coding expressions) across the Kantar Christmas ads tested and found 3 key themes that helped drive success:- Stories should have emotionally powerful journeys – and it's not just about Joy or Sentimentality
- Brands play an integral role and are the hero in the story
- The magic of music and emotion
Three Successful examples
While there are many examples of successful spots this holiday season, we chose to focus on three ads that create emotional resonance in different ways (adventure, humor, sentimentality), each with a unique creative style that fit with the brand, and use elements of strong success.
1. Aldi’s ‘Christmas Mission’ takes viewers on an adventurous and emotional ride with lots of smiles and surprise that fit with the Aldi brand. Kevin, the Carrot, the beloved and well-known Aldi character and his wife, Katie, are called to the rescue to save Christmas. They dress up as spies and encounter many adventures and obstacles, with cheeky British humor invoked throughout, as they save the (holi)day! Emotions ebb and flow with tension, surprises, and smiles (see below video) leaving viewers with a positive emotional reaction at the end.Connection to Aldi is created at two levels:
- The well-known brand characters, Kevin and Katie, play an integral role in the story as the protagonists and heroes and are distinctive assets for the brand.
- Aldi’s provides the beautiful and delicious food spread that will make the day magical, evoking smiles (green; below) at peak levels with viewers.
2. Waitrose, ‘Sweet Suspicion Part 2’ – Waitrose uses a new approach with a unique, creative and intriguing mystery series of ads featuring well-known celebrities to tell a story about solving who has stolen Waitrose’s Christmas pudding. The humorous ads are full of mystery and intrigue and evoke a wide range of emotional responses, especially the final spot which reveals the culprit (spoiler alert: it was Steve!) who hid the pudding in the gingerbread house of all places. We find Steve in the shed trying to eat it all by himself, but he is caught red-handed.
While the whole series of ads takes viewers on an emotional journey, ‘Sweet Suspicion Part 2’ (the “big reveal” ad) is particularly strong in creating strong emotional engagement, smiles, and surprise. The emotional journey ebbs and flows as seen by moments of surprise (blue), and the ad ends with positive feelings (smile; green) with the final Waitrose brand shot. The soundtrack also plays an important role in creating the mood and tone of mystery and intrigue, punctuating key points in the story.
3. Amazon’s ‘Midnight Opus’ uses Amazon's well-known powerful and sentimental story approach. This time it's about a janitor who is quietly singing What the world needs now is love while cleaning the theatre after a performance. The people working there all hear him and work together to buy him a tuxedo jacket from Amazon and set everything up for him to perform on stage, which he does brilliantly while they all watch. It takes viewers on an emotional journey of sadness and sentimentality, surprise and smiles that is very engaging. Amazon is the hero in the ad because it enables the workers to quickly get him a tuxedo jacket and make his performance equivalent to a live performance on stage.
The magic of music in creating a strong emotional connection is profound in ‘Midnight Opus’. The janitor singing the song is the story, so the music plays a critical role. It takes viewers on a journey of sadness (pink) initially as he sings about how the world needs love quietly to himself to surprise and peak smiles when he sings the song loudly and confidently like a star on stage, leaving viewers with a feeling of happiness (blue) and sadness (sentimentality) at the end.
Key Takeaways: how to elevate holiday ads that truly resonate
In a season where every emotional connection counts, Emotion AI can be your secret weapon to reveal what truly resonates with your audience and unlock the magic of holiday (and other!) advertising. Here's how you can create campaigns that captivate, inspire, and drive results:
- Evoke Emotion That Fits Your Brand and Story
Emotional connections are essential — but it’s not just about humor or sentimentality. The key is ensuring that the emotional tone is authentic and naturally aligns with both your brand and your creative narrative. - Take Viewers on an Emotional Journey
The best stories are those that engage viewers with highs and lows, crafting a narrative that evokes both positive and negative emotions — yet always leaves the audience with a feel-good connection to the brand. It can work well to evoke a range of authentic feelings, for example, sadness to joy to surprise, to make the ad memorable and impactful. - Put Your Brand at the Heart of the Story
A compelling ad doesn’t just tell a great story — it ensures your brand plays a starring role. Whether it’s a well-loved character, a product that solves a problem, or distinctive branding cues woven into the narrative, ensure your brand is integral to the emotional payoff. - Harness the Emotional Power of Music
A perfectly chosen soundtrack doesn’t just set the tone — it amplifies the story’s emotional resonance. From uplifting anthems to haunting melodies, music can heighten surprise, underscore sentimentality, or bring humor to life, making your ad unforgettable.
Wishing everyone happy holidays from Affectiva and we hope that the UK Christmas ads this year add a bit of fun, nostalgia and festivity to your season!
