Investing in experiential can help brands cut through the clutter of the Christmas advertising bonanza.
Mariah Carey wasted no time in welcoming Christmas by posting her annual chart-topper “All I Want for Christmas Is You” to social media at precisely midnight on 1st November.
And here in our world, the seasonal Christmas marketing bonanza has begun. The race for the hearts and wallets of British consumers.
While Christmas ad spend is forecast to spend a record £10.5 bn in the UK according to the Advertising Association and WARC, in the battle for attention, brands can’t afford to get lost in the cacophony.
That’s when experiential marketing comes into its own. Consumers’ purse strings may not be completely undone this year, but we’re all still looking for connected human moments of magic to share. And that’s never going to change. Particularly at Christmas when we want to be captivated, escape everyday life, be entertained. Done well, experiential taps into the heightened emotional and sensory atmosphere, creating memorable, immersive experiences aligned with our festive expectations.
Brands competing in the Christmas marketing and experience mayhem do well to drive their value proposition. This year the mantra “spend less but get more” has never been more relevant.
It’s rare that a brand enters the golden quarter with a truly unique mass market offer. Winning brands are predominately those who have built from their core and act in genuine ways. Just look at how ATL campaigns for retailers have evolved. In recent years we’ve had Black Friday sales, which have already “satisfied” consumers for the bargain/ low-price offer. So, beyond that, building brand and market value comes from investment - from experiences, innovation, quality, resonance and a sprinkling of the essential seasonal magic - luck.
But luck can be created. The true secret to success comes from understanding how people feel ‘in the moment’, and in this way, Christmas experimental is no different from any other season. While there’s often a tendency to see brand experience through a single lens, for example, big summer festivals for summertime brands. Experiential in both seasons can offer escapism - just in different ways.
Summer experiential brings an outdoor, free-flowing vibe that thrives on spontaneity and social interaction, taking advantage of longer days. Offering an opportunity to explore and create new memories.
Winter experiential, especially around the holiday season, tends to be more intimate and lean into sensory details and fun. Behaviour that any brand should be able to leverage to positive effect. The Chivas Life 9-hole golf course we built in St Moritz on the frozen lake is a good example. An incredible experience bringing customers worldwide to sample the Chivas Life. Who wouldn’t love nine holes on a frozen lake, with bunkers, polished greens and 300-yard fairways – absolutely beautiful!
The truth is - brave and visionary companies allow brand value to be built across seasons.
Our seasonal Boots Boutique experience targeted three UK cities, harnessing hyper-local consumer insights to create fun, tailored pop-up activations delivering resonance and reach.
The activations also highlighted some of the challenges of Christmas experiential –the need to source locations and teams in plenty of time. Relationships are critical– demand for space is competitive, so experience of working with local councils, retail space owners and suppliers is invaluable. You need fast access to the right resource. As a 360, round-the-clock, round-the-globe operation, we’re able to move talent and capacity as needed, from production specialists to the perfect brand ambassadors.
Addressing what people are experiencing will be crucial this Christmas and empathy is the key word. A gruelling 12 months of geo-political uncertainty, economic concerns and cost of living crisis, means we’ll be seeing heart-warming experiential filled with nostalgia and uplifting humour that speaks to the spirit of the season.
This year we predict genuine value, quality, resonance, and connectivity. A drop in aspiration-driving PR stunts as brands focus on connecting with people under pressure. We’ll see more collaborations - brands sharing mutually beneficial space and experiences, and encouragement to try and explore, especially for younger people. And we will of course see some amusing AI integration fails!
One of the most magical experiences we’ve had as a business is our visit to the opening of Lapland UK. The venue was another level of production and genuinely transported all ages to the magical world of Santa and all his helpers. A dazzling immersive festive experience – aligned to our brand values – still talked about today.
It proved that during the Christmas season people are more willing than ever to suspend belief and lean into to well-designed, engaging activations. Brands that get it right this year will foster enormous amounts of brand equity and positive sentiment. Those that don’t may find coal left in their stocking by unimpressed consumers.
Ben McMahon is founder and MD of Collaborate Global. Entrepreneur and catalyst for innovative growth, he is disrupting the experiential space, helping ambitious brands grow with campaign-led experiences fusing creativity and technology. Under his leadership, Collaborate is growing at pace with Norton Motorcycles, Kuoni, Aston Martin, Sky, eBay, Hyundai, Colgate Palmolive among others. He believes that fine moments of genuine creativity can sell brands – against all odds. Rich Hartle, Creative Director, Collaborate Global, brings twenty years’ experience in the creative industries, growing and developing creative teams in pursuit of compelling work for LEGO, Carlsberg, Boots, GORE-TEX and more. He has worked across digital, social and experiential, from mini-documentaries to big brand campaigns. His work has won at Cannes, D&AD and The One Show.
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