Christmas Advertising Industry Newsletter

27 December 2018

By : Ruthie Jenkins and Sarah Montgomery

Marketing

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Christmas and the New Year are on the horizon. And we can’t leave our houses without at least three layers of clothes which can only mean one thing; winter is here! But don’t fret, you have this informative newsletter to keep you warm until spring. Below you’ll find a look at how retailers are handling the holiday season and some of our favorite Christmas ads. On the multicultural side, there’s some strategy news from Toyota and an announcement from Telemundo. We discuss Amazon’s assent for the digital world. Finally, we cover some advertising news that bubbled over into the mainstream about Facebook and Mars. So, let’s hop right into it.

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

At PM3, we love the Christmas season. Strings of lights adorn the rooftops, the kitchen smells like gingerbread, and every radio hums a cheerful stream of holiday tunes. But our love does have limits. Every year it seems like we are subjected to Christmas advertising and merchandising earlier every year, a phenomenon known as “Christmas Creep.” Stores like Macy’s, Costco, and Belk were setting up Christmas decorations in early October! (Leaving Target as seemingly the only major retailer with the restraint to put down the tinsel until after Thanksgiving.) There are no clear monetary benefits for stores to deck the halls so early, and it may actually be dampening the Black Friday boom! Or maybe these retailers are up to date with psychological research that indicates that consumers are more likely to positively evaluate a store that has holiday smells and music than a store that doesn’t.

Before we move on, we would be remised to write all of this about Christmas advertising and not include some Christmas ads. There’s the fantastic John Lewis ad featuring Elton John, the heartwarming Pedigree ad seen through the eyes of the family pet, and this precious ad by Sainsbury. This short ad from Ford is a festive celebration of tough women. And if you haven’t seen the Christmas short “Love is a gift,” we highly recommend it.

Every year it seems like we are subjected to Christmas advertising and merchandising earlier every year, a phenomenon known as “Christmas Creep.”

On the Multicultural Side.

Toyota is looking to maximize the sales potential of the Corolla by targeting African-American, Asian, and Hispanic consumers. This move comes after US sales of the Corolla fell 11% through October.

Telemundo has officially announced the launch of their new e-commerce platform, ShopTelemundo. They are looking at this new site not only as a driver of additional revenue, but also as a source of powerful data. As a longer-term goal, Telemundo hopes to reach a place where purchases from the site influence TV content.

Amazon is taking Over the World.

By world, we mean the ever-expanding world of digital advertising.Amazon is now the third largest ad platform in the U.S behind Google and Facebook. While they only have about 4% compared to Facebook’s 20% and Google’s 37%, this growth is expected to continue as Amazon continues to make it easier to buy ads on its platform.

Check Amazon’s impact on 2020’s digital purchase habits here.

Big News that Transcended the Industry.

Facebook was aware of inaccuracies in the video viewership metrics for over a year and kept it a secret. Although the error allegedly didn’t cause any billing mistakes, it did provide data that lead advertisers to focus more on Facebook because they believed people were spending more time watching video there versus other video platforms. Facebook is currently facing a class action lawsuit because of the company’s “mentality of reckless indifference toward the accuracy of its metrics.”

Lockheed Martin changed its name and logo to Lockheed Martian to celebrate the landing of the Mars InSight spacecraft. This lander is designed to explore the Martian interior and was the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast.

Well, that about wraps things up. Until next time, stay warm and have great New Year!