It’s that time of year again. Yes with Christmas around the corner, companies go into marketing overdrive and we see an array of effective Christmas adverts crop up every year, all of which aim to get us in the Christmas spirit.
One of the things that makes Christmas marketing so different nowadays is the fact that social media can play a big part in aiding the Christmas marketing process with a number of companies having a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter. This means that as well as having the advert we have all come to know and love, we have a further drive when we log into our social networks.
The most iconic holiday TV advert still is, and probably always will be, the Coca Cola advert. The jingling of the bells and whispering of ‘Holidays are coming’ before the big red santa truck appears let’s everyone know it’s Christmas and when more and more people start seeing the advert, the bigger the buzz and the more Christmassy everyone feels. Seeing the beloved advert used to be a bit of a talking point like, you’d mention it the next day at work or send a quick text to a friend. Nowadays however, it is a major talking point with the masses taking to Facebook and Twitter to let the world know that Christmas is on its way. Coca Cola, being Coca Cola, know the effect that their advert has and have now integrated social media into the long-successful marketing campaign revealing, when the advert was shown for the first time this year during the X Factor on November 10, the new #holidaysarecoming hash-tag.
Excitable twitter users have been taking to the social media platform ever since to highlight their joy of seeing the advert.
@1eringardner said: “Just seen the Coca Cola advert! I can officially count down to Christmas! #excited” whilst @lucyalysbethel tweeted: “Just saw the Coca Cola advert YAAAAY CHRISTMAS!”
Others such as @MrLukeCooper simply stated: “The Coca Cola advert makes me happy.” whilst others such as @LaurenCarington somewhat sarcastically suggested that we wouldn’t know it was Christmas without the advert, she tweeted: “Wonder what people would do if the coca cola advert stopped, how would they know it is Christmas?”
The truck itself has become so famous that it tours up and down the country at this festive time of year and has its own Twitter page @Coca_ColaTruck with TV’s Amanda Holden (@Amanda_Holden) tweeting of her excitement at the prospect of seeing the truck. It doesn’t seem that people are bored of the advert yet, and it’s already 17 years old having first being aired in 1995.
Another company that has started a successful Christmas advertising campaign, that looks set to continue, is John Lewis. Last year we had the cute little boy holding a Christmas present but this year that’s been topped by ‘The Journey’ a love story of two snowmen. Like the Coca-Cola truck, the John Lewis snowman is taking a tour of the country with the department store starting the hash-tag #snowmanjourney on twitter, encouraging those who see the snowy guy in their hometown to tweet a picture alongside the hash-tag. As TV adverts go, you’d expect to see them on the TV, however, being in the digital age John Lewis decided to reveal the ad first online, tweeting to let followers know when it was live before adding when they could see it on the TV. Like last years offering, the advert has been met with mostly positive reviews from followers and the public.
Boots are infamous for their ‘here come the girls’ ads but these have been dropped this year and in place is the new strapline ‘lets feel good’. Moving away from the all-female drive and more towards a family drive are a few scenes to make you oooh and ahhh such as a dog getting a unicorn blow-dry or a couple of daughters encouraging their mum to get back on the dating scene to the backdrop of Elton John’s ‘Are You Ready For Love?’. Boots also posted their Christmas ad on their Facebook page before it was aired on TV suggesting that social media advertising is now more important than TV marketing. The company also used Facebook to unveil a ‘surprise’ to it’s fans by revealing the launch of a new Christmas app for android and iPhone users.
What’s your favourite Christmas advert? Drop us a line and let us know!