Christmas adverts have become a cornerstone of the modern festive season, with brands investing significant time and resources into campaigns that people anticipate each year.
During a season saturated with marketing across multiple platforms, brands need to create adverts that cut through the noise and connect with audiences. Transforming festive adverts into memorable stories and cultural moments is a great way to capture attention and build brand awareness.
Brand Storytelling During the Festive Season
At a time when short-form content often dominates marketing, Christmas adverts have the unique ability to engage audiences through longer-form storytelling. When done effectively, they allow brands to create emotional connections with audiences, drawing readers into the story and their brand.
Take John Lewis’s advert, it builds an emotional connection with the audience by focusing on the relationship between a father and his teenage son. By portraying a familiar family dynamic, the advert can help audiences see themselves and their own relationships reflected in the story, deepening their engagement with the advert and ultimately the brand.
Waitrose and Aldi both used nostalgia and recognisable characters to connect with audiences. Waitrose’s advert was a playful twist on classic Christmas rom-coms, telling the story of the unlikely romance between Phil and Kiera Knightley, who meet at Waitrose and fall in love. Meanwhile, Aldi’s three-part festive advert documents the marriage of Kevin and Katie to the carrots, marking almost 10 years of their relationship on our screens. Both adverts use nostalgia to create a sense of familiarity in their stories and use recognisable characters to create a connection with their brand.
Barbour and Apple took a handcrafted approach to their festive adverts, using detailed campaigns to deepen audience connection and reflect their brand values. Barbour partnered with Aardman Animations to create a stop-motion advert featuring the much-loved characters Wallace & Gromit, complete with miniature Barbour products. Apple’s Christmas advert featured woodland animal puppets singing together in a wintry forest and, in keeping with previous campaigns, was shot entirely on an iPhone. These detailed campaigns clearly displayed Barbour and Apple’s brand values of creativity, craftsmanship, and quality. Both brands also invited audiences behind the scenes of the campaigns by sharing ‘making-of’ content, extending the storytelling beyond the advert itself and increasing audience engagement.
Telling Your Brand Story
Understanding how to craft and communicate a compelling brand story is key to building engagement with audiences. With consumers encountering more advertising than ever before, storytelling has become a powerful way for brands to cut through the noise. Brands that can tell authentic, engaging stories are better positioned to connect with audiences and stand out amongst others.
The PACE From Logos to Legacies: Building and Engaging Brand and The Essentials of Branding courses are designed to help learners develop a clear brand identity and tell stories that resonate.
The From Logos to Legacies: Building an Engaging Brand on-campus course explores brand identity and how to create meaningful connections with audiences. Learners will develop the ability to communicate their brand purpose through powerful storytelling that engages and inspires.
The Essentials for Branding online course covers brand strategy creation, visual branding, and project execution. Learners will gain a strong understanding of the elements of branding, learning how to create detailed brand blueprints and deliver cohesive brand experiences.
These courses can provide the insights you need to develop your brand storytelling skills and create meaningful connections with your audiences.