The British public are ‘delighted’ with this year’s Christmas ads despite rising prices and energy bills.
According to global marketing research company System1, the ‘cash-strapped’ public are reacting kindly to this year’s ‘flood’ of Christmas commercials.
The firm’s ‘Test Your Ad’ platform has been rating every recently released Christmas ad using the emotional response of real viewers to predict each ad’s long and short-term effectiveness.
“On the one to five-star scale, usually only 1% of ads get the top five-star score,” System1 said.
“But the 2022 Christmas ad season is barely a week old, and we’ve already seen seven five-star ads. Aldi, Asda, Boots, Disney, Lego, Lidl, and M&S have all made ads which delighted viewers enough to earn the top score.”
For comparison, only two festive ads last year – Aldi and Coca-Cola – received five-stars from viewers.
Asda has reportedly emerged as a strong early contender with a ‘hugely positive’ audience response. System1 claims that the Buddy the Elf VFX ad seems to have hit the ‘millennial nostalgia sweet spot’.
On the note of nostalgia, M&S reuniting Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders and Aldi nodding their head to Kevin from Home Alone, has reportedly brought the general public much joy.
Additionally, while most advertisers are ‘playing it safe’ by avoiding the cost of living crisis and the winter World Cup, Aldi and Tesco have both touched on these matters and as a result scored highly by taking humorous approaches.
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“The bleak economic forecast hasn’t stopped Christmas advertisers – and now we can see it hasn’t stopped the British public from loving Christmas ads,” System1 chief customer officer, Jon Evans, said.
“The brilliant creatives in adland got it right and this could end up being the best year ever for Christmas ads in terms of emotional effectiveness.
“Right now the likes of Kevin the Carrot, Farmer Christmas, and Buddy the Elf are bringing a spot of much-needed cheer, but in the long-term strong performances now will be good for brands and businesses when the economic gloom lifts.
“There’s been an emphasis on family, nostalgia and special moments which gets the mood just right – even if it’s just for one day, at Christmas people want to feel a bit of joy.”
The marketing research company worked with several advertisers to test and develop Christmas ads, one of them being Boots’ ‘Joy For All’ ad featuring Lydia West. Boots CMO Peter Markey highlighted the value of research when he told System1: “As opposed to asking if someone likes it, I can show you how people think and feel watching it. It has made it a richer conversation to bring more science and data about the creative.“
