Irene Joshy, Head of Creative, Kantar Australia and APAC.
The world seems to be growing apart rather than together as one as geopolitical, social and economic challenges impact consumer sentiment, choices and spending. Marketers are curious. What behaviours will Aussies exhibit? How will they choose to spend their time and money this holiday season? And how do you bring authenticity into effective festive creative? While AI is being used through the creative development process to enable quick iterations and global deployment of festive messaging, do people want to see AI-generated content or do they wish to let the human imagination manifest in more authentic and human expressions or both? Our latest data on AI-generated advertising indicates that while Gen AI alone doesn’t make or break an ad, consumers are more bothered about the creators behind the content than marketers.
I actually took to AI with the task to describe the world. And the response made me fish out thesaurus. The way the machines describe the condition of human existence is: “tenuous resilience amidst persistent uncertainty”. If all the data in the world surmises humankind into these two words: “tenuous resilience”, I think there is reason for us to worry. But I have faith in our collective wisdom. And history shows that human culture has an amazing way of bouncing back into a positive state even amid persistent uncertainty and divisive thinking.
We are fast learning more about digital anxiety and dopamine addictions because people feel it all – fear, tension and uncertainty. But when this happens, neuroscientists say our brains are wired to rescue us from this state. The long-term regulation from the brain is to get us to ‘calm down’. The brain's ‘rational centre’ kicks in to assess if we really are under threat. The hippocampus helps us sift out the noise and come to terms with our immediate reality, and finally the sweet brain of ours produces its own calming chemicals during times of stress. The need to fuel or speed this ‘good feeling’ is no longer a good-to-have or a want, it is a real consumer need. It is this need that has led to the growth in the holistic health sector, the rise of travel and increasing consumption of feel-good categories (mindful meditation apps, sound baths, and therapeutic fragrance).
In this environment, what is the feast that we spreading out for consumers?
After analysing data from Kantar’s Global Monitor, past consultative work and the treasure trove of LINK (Kantar’s creative optimisation tool), the key elements to make the festive season a happier and prosperous one for brands and people are revealed: Spotlighting optimism, Ambivert realities, Nurturing imagination, Tending (not triggering) inclusion, Afterglow. (It does read ‘Santa’, does it not? Trust me it was not engineered to do so). So, let me dive into each of these and the impact on our creative effectiveness for the festive season.
- Spotlighting optimism
The most successful campaigns focus on emotional connection, shared experiences, and a sense of genuine joy beyond product promotions. Encourage influencers/creators to talk about their festive plans, festive hacks, memories. Focus must be to share and embed positive sentiment, which goes further than tapestry-like creatives celebrating the 3 festive Fs: family, friends and food. We cannot talk Christmas and hope without referencing the astounding Cadbury's 'Secret Santa' Campaign (VCCP London). Highly impactful, it achieved high scores for both short-term sales likelihood and long-term brand reinforcement; and successfully balanced emotional engagement with brand presence, making it one of the most effective festive ads in recent years.
Creating for this emotive connect is about driving long-term equity but brands have made it work to drive mid-short-term results as well. When brands get ‘spotlighting optimism’ right, they deliver on emotional resonance, affinity, brand difference. And the only job for the brand to do is ensure it plays a distinct role in the narrative. We do not want to create emotional resonance and make people attribute it to competition or just the whole category.
- Ambivert realities
This is about giving people little moments of solitude and calm balanced with celebrations and gatherings: balancing ‘me’ time versus ‘we’ time. The idea of charitable celebration and ‘KindMas’ (self-care) is not new, and we all can have ‘too much’ of something, be it family, friends, even chocolate. Using this insight around the need for space even when with your favourite people is well expressed through Airbnb Girls trip (Airbnb and Buck studio) – a simple and beautifully animated series transforming holidays spent in crammed hotel rooms into large roomy space offerings – together yet free. And when festive gifts contribute to building up an individual’s legacy as in the John Lewis “The boy and the piano” (adam & eve DDB) constructed around the gift that gave the world Sir Elton John showcase how a gift can change lives and builds a story of magical inspiration.
When brands get ambivert realities right through content, they drive relevance, stand apart with their dynamism, become memorable through the deep emotive relevance and drive affinity and short-term effectiveness/sales impact.
- Nurturing imagination
We have all heard ‘delulu is the solulu’, so create for delusion, fantasy and escape. Telstra won the Cannes Gold for film craft for ‘Together is for Christmas’ (Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, +61 and Revolver) capturing imagination through the story of a donkey infused with the spirit of Christmas. It took the campaign idea of ‘wherever we go’ and connected it through the fantastic singing donkey, which ultimately however, returns after all his adventures to be with his family and with the gift of Telstra. Families coming together is magical, but brands can make moments even more magical.
Enjoyment, involvement and cut through soars when brands create content during the festive season leveraging imagination and letting people feel happy and elated. This results in those warm feelings extending to the brand in terms of long-term affinity and when executed in service of the brand, translates into making the brand stand out as dynamic and different.
- Tending to inclusion
When content is used to create triggering moments, this year I hope brands can ‘tend’ new thinking and behaviour. A sweet example from RBH Malaysia’s Acceptance (FCB Shout talks about tending to autism and embracing neurodiversity in a true story using festivity as a time when families come together and celebrate but also a time to be kind and accepting of the struggles that may lie behind the obvious behaviour.
When brands focus on tending to inclusion, the conversation elevates from being kind or considerate to enabling and enhancing the lives of everybody. It improves short-term sales likelihood and drives up long-term equity measures. Kantar’s LINK database indicates showing underrepresented groups in a positive way (when done effectively) can result in +53 percentage points on demand power (equity) and +30 on short-term sales likelihood.
- Afterglow – A Chinese New Year ad from Apple and TBWA/Media Arts Lab Shanghai ‘The Bucket’ is all about the afterglow – the joy of festivities that should not leave us after we resume daily life. It is grounded in a real cultural truth and brings out moments of nostalgia in – childhood and memories we carry into the future. But afterglow can also go beyond creating sentimental moments to making real impact. Bringing the ‘dark’ side is the funny AAMI creative ‘When the festivities are over’ revealing a row of chaos and the importance of insurance in those moments.
LIDL’s #MakeChristmasASeasonOfValue is a reminder to continue the afterglow and spread the kindness, sensitivity and love beyond a wonderful Christmas. When afterglow lands well, the role of the brand shines through and it drives action. But if the message is around making people feel good for longer, we see an impact on meaningful difference. It is the least leveraged aspect of festive season, and I hope to see more of this in 2025 festive communication.
Not all elements of SANTA festive principles need to be used; but it is essential to highlight a strong expression connected to year-round brand activity. Switching to unrelated festive campaigns can devalue ongoing efforts and feel forced. Not participating in a meaningful way in festivities would be at the brand’s risk because the bold and brave participate and reflect culture as it is today with all its goods and bads! Just ensure that in all of this we keep in mind humble branding where the brand is not seen as being shouty or over the top.