From Tinsel to Tech: How Holiday Marketing Has Evolved Through the Decades
‛Tis the season to be jolly and – if you’re a marketing professional – time to keep a close eye on the success or otherwise of your expensive TV and screen-based social media campaigns. Will expectant wide-eyed consumers love your story? Or might they be disappointed, smile politely, and move quickly on to the next one?
For many brands it’s a make-or-break beauty parade when consumers are happy to spend, spend, spend, albeit judiciously. It accounts for a remarkable fifth of annual retail sales, according to the National Retail Federation. This year holiday spending could rise as much as 3.5 per cent to hit a record $989 billion.
Planning starts early. On one level it must be very tempting to go all in on a performance marketing campaign that guarantees – to a certain extent – a positive response to the campaign. After all, lots of clicks and leads and sales are bound to create a lot of Christmas cheer. But does going for short term gains – those low hanging baubles – make more sense than building brand awareness and longer term loyalty?
And how about the tone of your campaign? Is nostalgia right for now? Or is it better to go for a celebration of the future? Now Covid is (practically) forgotten can humour and materialism work again? Should the stars of the commercial be the traditional nuclear family or a more diverse and blended one? One thing is for sure. The type of Christmas TV ads that brands deliver this year will offer us an intriguing insight into the changing nature of society today.
The 1950s – the ultimate must-have gadget.
In the 1950s television exploded into homes across the world. Think of TV’s Mad Men – slick suits, chainsmoking snarky ad execs and the emergence of fast cars. The motor car became the must-have mode of transport – the number of cars on the road jumped from 25 million in 1950 to 67 million in 1958. Everyone wanted a gleaming new car and the Christmas ads reflected that with Desoto and Oldsmobile and Chevrolet all creating 1950s ads. Highways connected the cities and suburbs were expanding. The story? Get a good job; buy a car and – if you were a husband – make that two. Serious husbands look after their wives.
The 1960s – driving excitement & safely
But then the 60s kicked in and the tone changed as the Beatles sang Love Me Do and fans kicked and screamed. Motoring ads were on the change. Esso invited drivers to ‘Put a Tiger in your tank’ and positioned petrol as a way to have an adventure and enjoy the open road rather than a simple commodity. But as safety consciousness grew so did the Esso message. At Christmas the tiger dressed up as Santa wishing everyone: ‛Happy, safe Christmas motoring’. The story? Driving is great fun, a chance to cruise as well as commute, but do it safely!
The 1990s – cigarettes are bad for your health
Cigarettes once made the perfect gift. Even Santa was happy to give away a bumper pack of Camels in this 1940s ad, but by the 90s smoking was in decline and tobacco legislation was making it harder for cigarette bands to advertise. Spot the cigarette in this 1991 Marlboro Christmas ad! Marlboro man on his horse is happy to drag his tree across the ranch without lighting up at all. Brands started being far more creative. Sadly I can’t find a Christmas version but this Silk Cut ad is amazing and sums up the way advertisers started to play with ideas and imagery. And it does have a snowman and penguins. The story? It’s official. Smoking can seriously damage your health.
The 2020s – family values and safety
How do you celebrate Christmas with all its superficial glitz and glamour and unbridled materialism in the middle of a global pandemic? The simple answere is you don’t. So brands largely chose to celebrate the spirit of Christmas instead. Like Amazon’s charming commercial ‛The Show Must Go On’ telling the story of a young ballerina whose show is cancelled. As winter darkness falls she decides to dance in the snow outside and her neighbours appear with spotlights and start to cheer. The message: “Not much has gone to plan in 2020. But, with grit and determination anything is possible.” It’s a Christmas cracker. And the story? Christmas is about a lot more than big parties and materialism. So stay safe!
2024 and beyond – AI fantasy versu the real
If Christmas is a tinsel town fantasy with a cast of make believe characters then it should be a perfect topic for creatives discovering the delights of AI. When Christmas gurus Coca Cola dropped their new campaign, ‛The Holiday Magic is Coming’ they assumed an expectant public would be delighted. But for many the film (created by its Real Magic AI platform) wasn’t quite right. The Coke trucks in colourful lights did not look overly joyful. The polar bears simply weren’t cute enough and felt far too… well, AI. Using generative AI may save lots of cash but it isn’t the real thing. Yet. The story? There is a new force at work in society today. But Christmas is complicated and computers haven’t cracked it. For now the human touch is hard to beat.
At Paragon it’s our job to keep a close eye on the workings of society and then assess the way new patterns and trends can affect the stories we want to tell. In a fast-changing world we’d love to talk to you about how we help you build inspiring campaigns that deliver results. We look forward to hearing from you.
