Since most of the big retailers have now shown their hand in the 2013 Great Festive TV Ad Standoff, now feels like a good time to pull them all together in one place.
Let’s start with John Lewis, a brand for whom the festive ad stakes were set very high following 2011 and 2012’s triumphs
It’s charming – and Lily Allen’s cover of Somewhere Only We Know is currently sitting at No2 in the itunes chart. You can also buy the cuddly toy, christmas card, slippers, onesie, children’s book etc. Talk about a media multiplier.
Next up we have Tesco
This is the Christmas ad that I’m sure John Lewis would have done if they hadn’t already used the idea for She’s Always a Woman in 2010. And their aging makeup was tons better than Tesco’s.
Asda have gone in the opposite direction to Tesco and led with Value
But I suspect that a more lifestyle-y offering from them might surface in December as there’s only so many OTSs a value-snowman analogy will stand up to. Nice use of Mel-or-Sue from the Great British Bake Off for the v/o though.
Talking of double acts, Morrisons have gone for Ant-and-Dec again to front their Christmas campaign
I’m not convinced that Ant-and-Dec are a great fit for Morrisons, especially as they also front I’m a Celebrity, which will be on air asap sponsored by…Iceland. I’m guessing that the brand recall research numbers are going to look disappointing here.
Sainsbury’s meanwhile have got the bloke who directed Last King of Scotland to make a 45minute documentary about Christmas home videos, which they are showing highlights from in their ad break slots
Which is…different, certainly. I actually think running clips as ads makes what is apparently all genuine footage look contrived at times, but it does stand out among the manufactured fuzziness that other retailers have churned out.
Aldi have basically pastiched themselves
– and that’s no bad thing
M&S seem to have mashed up the plot of Alice in Wonderland with Standard M&S Christmas Script and…well, I think ITIABTWC covers it better than I could
Also, two and a half minutes???
Boots have taken their ‘Lets…’ and ‘Feel good’ lines and put a new spin on them
I like it – and I strongly suspect the brief might have included the line ‘make Boots customers think of an extra person to buy a 3for2 gift for’
Debenhams is a bit of a yawn-fest
There’s so much product in there, it’s at the expense of standout and engagement.
I recon the winner so far is, unsurprisingly, John Lewis – but let’s see what Sainsbury’s and Iceland (who are working with a decent agency for once) can come up with.