Christmas advertising campaigns

Why are we talking about this now?

As the festive season approaches, Christmas advertising campaigns start to dominate television screens. Two weeks ago Argos - always one of the first - launched its Christmas campaign featuring Bing Crosby beatboxing to a festive audience. Last week Dixons Retail brought intergalactic stars R2-D2 and C3PO to television in its Christmas ad.

How much do retailers spend on Christmas advertising?

According to Billets Media, in the fourth quarter of 2009 retailers spent more than £450m on advertising in TV and press, with the months of November and December accounting for more than £300m. Retail is by far the biggest spending sector at Christmas, followed by entertainment, FMCG and toiletries.

Which retailers spend the most on Christmas advertising?

In November and December 2009 Asda topped the league, spending £13.7m on TV and print advertising, according to Billets Media. This was followed closely by Tesco on £11.6m, Sainsbury’s on £10.2m, DFS on £8.8m and Boots on £8.2m.

Is spend on Christmas advertising increasing?

Billets Media says the growth in advertising spend is slowing. This year it expects a rise in press spend of 2.9% and between 4% and 5% in TV spend. Billetts head of press Tim Howett says: “Spend grew massively over the past few years and that rate wasn’t sustainable.” He says spend will always be high in TV but the sector is reaching saturation point with the press. “Press is less flexible in terms of messaging, as some magazines have long lead times so retailers can’t change their price messages at the last minute,” he says.

Are retailers using media other than TV or press?

Retailers are using digital media to a greater extent every year. Howett says: “About £6.5bn is expected to be spent online this year so retailers will be keen to capture this spend by advertising.” Retailers may use TV or press ads to direct customers to their online operation, but they will also start to use digital and social media to target shoppers.

How do retailers measure the effectiveness of their ads?

As well as conventional measurement metrics and analysis of consumer recall, in the online era success will be measured by factors like click-through rates. Ultimately a campaign’s effectiveness should be visible in the sales line.