It’s that time of the year again – a time where the biggest brands battle it out for the most creative, witty and heart-warming festive advert. Boasting high production values, the best Christmas commercials know how to tell a story; connecting to consumers on an emotional basis and sparking social conversation.
This year, we asked some of our Major Players in the marketing industry to review the most popular ads for 2019. Here are their scores…
ASDA
Launching their ‘Let’s make Christmas extra special’ campaign that follows the cheerful spirit of Tilly and her brother Jack, ASDA’s concept focused on what it means when people go the extra mile to spread joy.
Although it was colourful and childishly sweet, our team wasn’t entirely consumed by the story and felt the message got lost.
Score: 6/10
M&S
M&S produced a jumper-filled, all-dancing Christmas advert, set to the House of Pain track “Jump Around”. The campaign features family and friends dressed in a range of jumpers from the M&S’ knitwear collection.
Definitely a more youthful approach to highlighting their fashion brand. It's a catchy advert that successfully stands out but lacks a creative narrative.
Score: 8/10
AMAZON
Online retail giant, Amazon created a feel-good advert that shows families, friends, colleagues and strangers coming together to the tune of Solomon Burke’s classic track ‘Everybody Needs Somebody to Love’. Returning for the third consecutive year, it also featured the iconic cheerful singing Amazon boxes.
This advert is enjoyable to watch and is both whimsical and fun, but unfortunately we feel it doesn’t connect to a UK audience or pull at the emotional heartstrings.
Score: 7/10
SAINSBURY'S
Celebrating the supermarket’s 150th anniversary, this heart-warming ad takes place back in 1869 –when the first-ever Sainsbury’s store opened. Depicted in a Dickens/Victorian era, it follows the humbling story of a young boy named ‘Nick the Sweep’, otherwise known as Father Christmas.
Witty and smart, this one stands out as a narrative of the current, future and past. This is what we all need in the world right now - hope!
Score: 8/10
JOHN LEWIS & PARTNERS
Marking John Lewis's first joint Christmas campaign with Waitrose, the highly anticipated advert focuses around a little girl and her friendship with an excitable young dragon named Edgar. Unable to contain his fire-breathing excitement, Edgar finds himself unavoidably ruining the Christmas festivities.
This is the one we all wait for, and again, the narrative is something that tugs at your heartstrings. But is it Christmassy enough? Either way, I’m sure we will all go out and buy that dragon!
Score: 8/10
HAFORD HARDWARE
It was recorded that an estimated £6.8bn has been spent on creating and buying airtime for this year’s Christmas commercials. But do the big budgets really pay off? Costing less than £100, Hafod Hardware’s – a small family-run store in Wales – Christmas ad recently went viral with over 350K views. The two-minute short film follows two-year-old Arthur Jones as he heads to work at the store for the day, with the tagline promoting “Be A Kid This Christmas”.
Simple is best. And really, we all turn into kids at Christmas!
Score: 8.5/10
