Did your CPMs increase by 274% lately?!
Christmas is a special season for all of us (in one way or another), but especially for the big spending brands out there. It’s that season of the year when they do their best to the produce the most viral commercials and go overboard when it comes to fancy and very emotional productions. And you know what that means for whatever campaigns you are running, as well as people’s spending behaviors.
Performance marketers and big brands alike are all fighting for the same thing – customer’ attention. From year to year the ever-growing global ads budget put into pre-holidays advertising is making it harder and harder for marketers to have their messages stand out and cut through the noise.
So what shall we do?
Well lets, for a moment, forget about scrolling your newsfeed and looking for your “friends’” newest mannequin challenge, those cutie cats in ugly Santa sweaters or other nonsense. Below you’ll find an excuse for some pre-holidays procrastination and prolific video watching. After all, learning from the biggies (at least when it comes to branding) might be the best use of of your time while advertising costs are up anyways, rrrright?
Here you go -- maybe you find some inspiration for your next campaign, even if it isnt sooo much brand-focused or running on mainstream TV channels… ; )
Enjoy:
Monty The Penguin
Brand: John Lewis, Year: 2014
Probably John Lewis’ most successful Christmas ad so far. The ad pushed sales up 4.8%, and reached more than 7 million views on social media within 24 hours.
Also within a day after the online launch, they aired on TV and had their commercial watched by 4.3 million adults. By the end of the campaign TV had delivered a massive 370 million views and John Lewis’ market share increased to 27.5%, its highest ever.
The ad cost £1 million to shoot. The total cost of the campaign was £7 million, which includes the cost of in-store advertising, the cost of TV spots, billboards and newspaper adverts.
Christmas is for Sharing
Brand: Sainsbury’s, Year: 2014
The creative idea of two opposing sides coming together to share the Christmas spirit attracted 16.9m views. Within 24 hours of the ad going public it had been watched 1 million times. The campaign helped Sainsbury’s to become second in the grocery section and also collected £7m for charity. Like-for-like sales for the quarter saw a 1.7 per cent decline but a record-breaking week before Christmas, with nearly 30 million customer transactions, probably lifted the company’s spirits.
The Lidl Schools of Christmas
Brand: Lidl, Year: 2015
This is the first Christmas ad Lidl had ever debuted through social media. Broadcasted as a 60 second film it was combined with the launch of a virtual ‘school of Christmas’, where shoppers can receive digital lessons and tips from its Michelin-starred chef endorser Kevin Love. Their Christmas marketing has continued a strategy of appealing to a middle-class audience, who a few years ago would not have dreamed of shopping at a discount food retailer. In 2015, Lidl was the fastest growing retailer overall, with sales up by 18.5%.
Snow Globe
Brand: Coca Cola, Year: 2010
Their 2010 campaign was a great success for Coca-Cola -- and for Train. The band that actually sang the song for the Christmas campaign was a top-seller for Coca-Cola globally, reaching No. 1 on the iTunes sales charts in six countries, including Germany, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
If my stats are correct Coca-Cola's net income increased from $6.9bn in 2009 to $11.8bn in 2010. Sales for the Coca-Cola brand portfolio grew by 2% across Europe with a 15% boost for Coke Zero. Would be interesting to know how big of a role advertising played there.
The Telescope
Brand: Aldi, Year: 2015
In this Christmas ad German retailing giant Aldi decided to spoof John Lewis' “Man in the Moon” advert. Aldi’s spoof generated two times more social buzz than the official Christmas campaign. The ad boasts more than two million Youtube hits, compared to just 900,000 for Aldi’s official 2015 campaign.
Here's the original, so you can compare and share a smile for Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuz2ILq4UeA
Do you have other examples?
Biggest Christmas spenders, craziest campaigns, or something made big via performance marketing? Please share.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!
All great ads - thanks Phil!
Can't wait until after the New Year when CPMs will come back down!
Happy holidays everyone!
Amy