Holiday campaigns that were a gift. | Willow & Blake

It’s not long until we hear the infamous bell chimes at the start of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’. With these bells will come the official beginning of the festive season. To us branding people, that means one thing; holiday campaigns. 

You know the type. Fake snow, rosy cheeked children, staged family feasts with glossy chickens and frosty flutes of Champagne. They’re heart-warmers, string-pullers and tear-jerkers.

However, emotional holiday ads come from a very rational place. There’s a consistently recorded uptick in spending during the festive season. Even during the cost of living crisis, there’s year-on-year growth in December. Not only are people’s hearts open in December, but their wallets are, too. 

Here are some holiday campaigns that grabbed the festive season by the baubles:

Tear jerkers by John Lewis.

If tear-jerking were an Olympic sport, John Lewis would win gold every time. Since 2006, they release an annual heart-warming short film that features perfectly-placed music. It makes you associate them with those tingly, heart-glowing festive feelings, and primes you to buy generous gifts and all the trimmings for a traditional Christmas.

The Bear and the Hare was John Lewis’s 2013 Christmas advert. Its musical accompaniment, a cover of Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ recorded by Lily Allen, shot to the top of the charts. Watch this one with tissues nearby.

Shareable gold by Spotify Wrapped.

You might have missed that Spotify Wrapped is a holiday campaign. At the end of the year, Spotify arms all of its listeners with a personalised and shareable video which summarises their musical journey over the last 12 months. Using engaging stats and beautifully designed visuals, it tells a story of the past year and creates juicy social content for its users. Whether your top artist for the year is a boast or embarrassing (I listened to Padam Padam by Kylie on repeat for two weeks straight and it drastically affected my “listening aura”), it’s fun to share.

End of year wrap ups like this are great as holiday campaigns, because they tap into the end of year sense of achievement and nostalgia, play on customers’ narcissistic joy in hearing about themselves, and create shareable moments that boost your brand’s profile.

Speaking of 'wrapped', festive packaging is a huge for driving sales at the end of the year. Check out the packaging we designed for frank body's holiday campaign last year.

Kentucky fried turkey by KFC.

Kentucky Fried Chicken’s ad has all the makings of a typical Christmas ad; snow, emotional music, slow motion food shots…but there’s a twist at the end. 

We love how this ad plays into Christmas tropes but stays true to the brand’s personality, too. For some brands, a typical Christmas ad would just feel cheesy. This takes the festive opportunity while injecting some humour, so they don’t come off as sappy.

Santa by Coke.

Before Coke’s 1931 ads showing a jolly, plump, realistic and red-clad Santa, Saint Nicholas was a bit of a spooky character. Google ‘santa 1900s’ if you want the chills. 

These are simple print ads that Coke used to bend Christmas folklore to suit their brand’s identity. The cultural impact of these visuals is still felt today, when your uncle Joe throws on the Santa costume that looks exactly like what Coke designed. 

Coke continued to run these ads up until 1964, making this modernised Santa synonymous with their brand. When you thought Christmas, you thought Santa, and when you thought Santa, you thought coke. This is an early example of mental availability—making sure your brand is top of mind when it matters (mental availability explainer for marketing nerds here).

Word to the wise—none of these great ads were made in a day. Holiday campaigns are strategic, and take a lot of planning and creativity. Get in early if you want a spot on our nice list.