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Christmas – a time to be lazy?

Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Creative, Mel Varley, Latest reporters' blogs December 5th, 2007 by Melinda Varley

Traditions are easy to market as most of us can relate to them and around this time of year there are certainly plenty of them to play with. But has it made marketers lazy?

Camelot is launching a new ad campaign to promote the ‘traditional Boxing Day draw.’ But the National Lottery licence holder has used a ‘revamped’ ad campaign last year promoting the same thing, ‘on the back of its success.’

Perhaps using the ad only two years in a row isn’t that bad, but imagine if every Christmas campaign used the same creatives?

Along with Camelot Irn-Bru has also revived its Snowman Christmas campaign and Bernard Matthews is famous for using the ‘bootiful’ campaigns more than once. 

Some of these brands have massive exposure in their market over the key holiday season due to traditions, but is it an excuse to perhaps go into holiday mode a little too early?

The most impressive Christmas campaigns are those that we look forward to seeing how they will be done each year. Like retail ads such as the M&S Christmas campaigns, which always feature a superstar. Frankly, we all look forward to seeing these campaigns so why do marketers sometimes shy away from originality when it comes to Christmas?