Tis the season… when we are gifted with Christmas adverts from a range of major brands, each with a mission to stand out from the crowd and engage emotionally with their audiences. The cluster of festive ads this year has evoked various consumer responses, with the choice of music playing its part – but what ones struck the right chord this year and what ones hit a bum note?

Being authentic with the brand and the audience

Christmas advertising has always warranted bigger budgets in both creation and media spend. However, as we continue to navigate a world with COVID-19 and retailers facing supply chain complications, many marketers will have watched spend more closely this year. Music and sound can play a hugely effective role in helping increase the ROI of a campaign – but it can’t come at the risk of being inauthentic. 

JD Sports’ ad brought a cool aesthetic we don’t usually see in Christmas narratives. It managed to produce something that clearly represented and targeted its youthful customer base accompanied by the track ‘Deserve the Finest’ by Toddla T featuring Shaybo. The hip-hop/grime song successfully matched the overall mood of the ad which sees a young teen walking down a high street in pursuit of a last-minute turkey and having various interactions with the coolest tracksuit-wearing celebs.  

Waitrose, on the other hand, sounded confused. Their ad stars Ashley Jenson, who brought a comedic element as she references relatable Xmas scenarios. But the chosen music is odd and feels off-brand: a traditional Christmas song backed up by a heavy hip-hop beat offering a certain connotation which you could argue doesn't fit with what the Waitrose brand is and who it serves. There’s little reasoning behind this choice and therefore it feels inauthentic – no doubt putting off many as opposed to positively engaging and enhancing the storytelling.

Capturing the right Christmas attitude and mood 

Despite the obvious backdrop, a lot of advertisers avoided a COVID narrative, likely being to not remind audiences of the real-world reality and therefore providing some much-needed festive escapism instead. Therefore, the stage was set for John Lewis to do what it does best: sweeping us up into a festive fairytale that makes us feel emotional and festive. 

However, after a tremendously difficult eighteen months, we, as audiences, have changed. And John Lewis did not. Nothing from this year’s ‘Unexpected Guest’ ad surprised us – which is the biggest problem. What we saw this year was a formula no longer captivating an audience with surprise, wonder, sadness or joy. On the contrary, System1 testing proved it barely affected us at all. It’s the retailer’s signature tactic to offer a new rendition of a well-known classic song and that also fell flat this year. Its mournful‘Together in Electric Dreams’ cover by 20 year-old singer Lola Young wasn’t enough to save it and instead felt predictable. Where we could argue the track holds elements of nostalgia, reminding us of a time before face masks and social distancing, it merely contributed to John Lewis’ conventional aesthetic where it didn’t stand out, nor did it align with the current mood of Christmas and presented nothing new.

Tesco, however, went in the opposite direction, and it worked. The brand chose to go full throttle with Covid references, going as far as to incorporate a double jabbed Santa and an overarching message that ‘Christmas is going ahead’. The chosen soundtrack played a part in harnessing this message, channeling Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, filling us with optimism when we need it most. 

Perfecting all the Components within your Narrative

Aldi and M&S went for more theatrical and imaginative takes on their ads this year and set good examples of using music to enhance the storytelling rather than competing against it or failing to have any impact. Aldi’s take on A Christmas Carol saw the introduction of ‘Ebanana Scrooge’ and the return of its familiar character Kevin the Carrot, as well as an appearance from Marcus Radish-ford. Recreating a classic story with fun characters, its orchestral version of festive-favourite ‘FairyTale of New York’ felt natural and largely contributed to the magic of the very sweet story. 

M&S incorporated a fairy, played by national treasure, Dawn French, who brings the classic Percy Pig to life, voiced by the very-hot-right-now actor Tom Holland. The use of iconic celebrities, consistently over time are another sound asset - they are so prolific that even their voices are immediately recognised eliciting a deeper engagement and yet, celebrity endorsements don’t rank as highly as sonic assets, according to Ipsos research.

Percy is shown around a store by the fairy, where M&S food is then showcased against a festive music score that feels filmic and magical. However, it isn’t a spin on a Christmas

track we all recognise like Aldi chose. M&S relied on characters and you could argue their chosen track was a missed opportunity to leverage a non-visual asset, which could make their ad even more distinctive. 

Despite Christmas always being the tentpole for traditional big-moment television ads, marketers have no choice but to also consider how the work translates to other sites. With the likes of TikTok, a sound-on social network now topping 1 billion users, sound and music is integral in not just capturing audience attention but also translating the brand's message. Music and sound can lead a campaign across multiple platforms, even in spaces where visuals are not present, such as podcasts. Those strategic enough will understand this – and begin to realise the effectiveness of sound.