Earlier this month, Asda released its showstopping Christmas 2022 ad campaign which saw Buddy the Elf becoming a Christmas temp for an unsuspecting local store.
Thanks to a unique brand licensing deal and state-of-the-art VFX, Will Ferrell’s iconic festive character was able to star in the commercial, which showed him singing into the store’s tannoy system and distracting colleagues with his Christmas plans.
Buddy’s chaotic trial shift has been a big hit with the British public, tapping into the festive spirit despite the cost-of-living crisis that continues to rage on this winter. The likes of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi have also released their festive commercials for this year, but none have quite reached the dizzying heights and public acclaim of Asda’s creation.
According to global marketing research company System1, the supermarket’s advert has hit the ‘millennial nostalgia sweet spot’ right on the head, garnering a ‘hugely positive’ audience response.
Last week, data collected by social media analytics firm Sprout Social revealed that the commercial had amassed 118 million impressions and 52,680 total engagements (likes, dislikes, comments and shares), after being live for just six days.
Asda senior director of brand communications Stephi Brett-Lee takes us on a tour behind-the-scenes of this particularly merry marketing campaign.
Why did you choose to use a pre-existing character as opposed to creating your own?
Why did you choose to use a pre-existing character as opposed to creating your own?“The idea felt right to us from the beginning, it was a perfect match. Elf is Britain’s most-loved Christmas film, and the character of Buddy so iconic. Plus, so many of Buddy’s lines – ‘I’m in a store and I’m singing!’ – fit so perfectly with what we wanted to do there was no need to change a thing. And he’s in Asda colours already!
How did you secure the Buddy the Elf licensing agreement?
“Born Licensing manages the licensing of the Elf movie IP while Talent Republic look after the Buddy character IP. We shared our concept with them, knowing it would be a tough ask, given Elf has never before been licensed for marketing.
Luckily, they believed in our creative and the ambition we had to remain true to Buddy’s character and were able to bring that to life for Warner Bros. and Will, resulting in a resounding yes from both parties.
How long did the shooting take and were the Asda employees extras or real staff members?
“From start to finish, the ad took approximately three months to create, but we were working on the concept much earlier than that. We did have Asda colleagues as extras on the set but used professional actors for the key roles within the ad.
Did you go over-budget?
“We’re always focused on driving maximum bang for our buck. The ad was shot here in the UK, and we were able to keep production costs down by re-purposing – not reshooting – all original Elf footage.
How successful do you feel the campaign has been so far?
“We’re over the moon with the success of the campaign so far. It’s doing exactly what we wanted it to do, which is make people smile. The whole team loved working on it, and we knew we’d created something special, but to get that recognition from our customers, the media, and industry experts has been the icing on the cake.
We hit 1m YouTube views in just over 24 hours and are now sitting at just over 2m (11 November 2022) views, which is fantastic. Not only that, but we saw accounts like ‘@mrss_claus’ who posted the ad on TikTok hit over 5 million views during launch weekend.
How do you feel your campaign compares with other Christmas ads released so far?
“Asda is not here to compare. There are some great ads out there this year, all of them addressing different customer mindsets when it comes to the mood of the nation right now. Ours is joyful and provides escapism at the end of what’s not just been a tough year, but a tough (almost) three years since Covid.
What was the creative split between yourselves and Havas London?
“We worked extremely collaboratively with Havas London throughout the whole process. After choosing the ‘wild card’ idea from the multiple initially presented, we worked together on the script, our favourite Buddy quotes, and the Asda story we wanted to tell.
Bringing Danny Kleinman onboard to direct just added to the fantastic experience of the team and we’ve spent a lot of time together talking all things Christmas over the last few months! We pulled together as one team and we’re all really proud of the campaign we delivered.
What was it like to work with Framestore on the VFX?
“Framestore were fantastic and we couldn’t have brought the campaign to life without their state-of-the-art VFX techniques. It was a considerable creative and technological challenge to integrate existing film footage without changing any action or dialogue, but we believe we pulled it off.
Beyond skilfully integrating Buddy into the new scenes, the VFX team were also tasked with digitally extending the studio set to give it the scale and feel of an Asda store, creating digital matte paintings to extend the snowy outside environment, and, for that perfect Christmas finish, adding a (digital) sprinkle of falling festive snow.
Team members from Framestore were on hand on set to give advice and we’ve been to their offices a number of times in recent months as we worked frame-by-frame through each shot to weave the whole thing together.
How successful has your in-store campaign been?
“We’re getting brilliant feedback from our customers and colleagues in store about the festive POS, including things like our cardboard cut-outs of Buddy the Elf which customers can pop their head in a take a picture of themselves – we’re seeing lots of them shared on social media.
We’re also over the moon our Asda Merchandise team were able to achieve the unthinkable, with Warner Bros. merchandise created within four months – which typically takes 12 months. This allows our customers to buy Buddy products for their home, including pyjamas, throws, gift wrap and cards, to name a few.
Bumped into Buddy The Elf earlier 🤣🤣 @asda #SpreadingChristmasCheer #AsdaChristmas2022 pic.twitter.com/L1r0qASi07
— Kayla (@IamKaylaGreen) November 5, 2022
How do you respond to the complaints that the in-store cardboard cutout of Buddy the Elf is too tall for young people to interact with?
“We know they’re a little bit tall for some children, but Buddy is a human-sized Elf and as with the whole campaign, we wanted to stay true to his character. We’ve seen lots of pictures of parents holding their children up to peek through the hole!
How much of an effect on sales do you think your campaign will have?
“We know budgets are squeezed this year and customers will be cautious when it comes to how they spend, when they spend and where they spend. We have a number of product-focused executions which will follow our hero brand ad, showcasing the very best of what we have to offer this festive season – from quality food to market-leading deals.
At Asda we want our customers to know that whatever their budget this year, we can help them deliver a truly magical Christmas for their loved ones with no compromise.”
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