Tag: christmas

Sydney, Australia – Christmas is no doubt coming to town, and Australia-based supermarket chain ALDI has released the new instalment of its Christmas campaign, newly called ‘Overcooked Generosity’.  

The said ad is the sophomore rendition of the ‘You Can’t Overcook Christmas’ campaign launched by ALDI Australia last year. The campaign, conceptualised together with creative agency BMF, aims to encourage Aussies to ‘go all-out’ this festive season and feed the ‘spirit of generosity.’

The campaign comes with a 30-second understated comic that sees two women trying ‘too hard’ to not be the one to grab the very last piece of prawn off the table out of ‘generosity’. Just to avoid the prawn finally landing on one’s plate, the women fight it off with silly aggressive stunts such as plates being shoved with one of the women even throwing herself out the door, only to roll down the veranda to avoid the prawn. 

https://youtu.be/k1rX-BWbPxs

In a real jovial punch, we find that there are indeed more prawns cooked and prepared for everyone. The ad finally ends with the line, ‘more prawns, more everything, because you can’t overcook Christmas’. 

ALDI Australia’s Marketing Director, Mark Richardson, said, “At a time when Aussies will be auditing their festive plans to balance the Christmas they want, with the Christmas they can afford, ALDI plays a unique role in helping people Overcook their Christmas, without overcooking their budget.”

Richardson continued “Aussies can have the Christmas they want while saving the money they need and not compromising on quality. Because at ALDI Christmas is about more than just savings, it’s about getting more for your money.”

Meanwhile, David Fraser, creative director at BMF attributed the concept of the new ad to the proverbial family animosities that are always bound to happen when families get together during the holidays, even saying that Christmas isn’t complete without a few well-meaning relatives engaging in a polite fight.

“Overcooking such a simple truth felt like it would strike a chord with Aussies. And hopefully, ALDI can help families have one less argument this year,” Fraser said.

Aside from BMF, ALDI collaborated with key agency partners Zenith Media, and Ogilvy PR to bring the campaign to market across key media channels, including TV, outdoor, radio, digital, social, PR, catalogue, owned website, EDM, media partnerships, and POS.

Melbourne, Australia – In the spirit of the upcoming Christmas season, Australian department store chain Myer has launched a multi-touchpoint campaign, encouraging Aussies to indulge, smile, and shop more this holiday season.

Part of the campaign is a film that is set on Christmas eve, where a couple faces the relatable stress of having to wrap their family’s long list of gifts. Starting from exhaustion, the couple finally gets into their groove, transforming the mundane palaver into an exhilarating performance.

With fun, cheeky, and attention-grabbing tag lines such as, ‘Stuff the turkey, stocking and self-control’, ‘Grab Christmas by the baubles’, and ‘Deck the halls, kitchen and living room’, the campaign will be brought to life across TV, BVOD, OOH, digital, social, online, in-store VM, gift wrapping and team member uniforms.

The campaign is conceptualised by Clemenger BBDO, with its media strategy led by Essence.

https://youtu.be/BZHNUfyAPOs

Speaking about the campaign launch, Geoff Ikin, chief customer officer at Myer, said that they are approaching the festive season with more confidence than ever.

“From our much-loved Melbourne Christmas Windows, which will feature iconic scenes in celebration of Disney’s 100 years of wonder, to our national Santalands, curated Giftoriums and our Myer one VIP shopping nights, we are there to help our customers celebrate this festive season,” he said.

Ikin added, “The campaign has been created to cut through the noise in typically the most cluttered media environments at Christmas. It’s fun, engaging, irreverent and offers what our customers love – a little surprise and delight. Australians love to celebrate Christmas, and so do we.”

Meanwhile, Jim Curtis, chief creative officer at Clemenger BBDO, commented, “Christmas is a weird and wonderful time of year filled with rituals that under normal circumstances would make absolutely no sense whatsoever. We leave carrots in our driveways for flying reindeer, we wear itchy, woollen sweaters in the middle of summer and we go the extra mile to show our loved ones how much they mean to us.” 

He added, “This year we’re asking Australians to let the season be the reason and double down on everything that makes Christmas, Christmas. Yes, that even means fully embracing the unique task of wrapping gifts at midnight the night before.”

Australia – Despite the Christmas festivities getting nearer, around 20% of Aussie consumers are going to buy cheaper and more practical gifts for their family and friends this Christmas, as cost of living pressures force them to be conservative in their spending habits. This is according to the latest data from digital experience provider Sitecore.

The data notes that one in five Australian shoppers expect to purchase fewer gifts and spend less overall, while the majority expect to spend the same amount as in 2021.

Despite this, one in three high-income Australians plans to spend more this season. Overall, the trend is likely to swing to more practical presents for the majority of Christmas shoppers. 

The report also found that Gen Z is feeling the pinch – one in three expect to use a BNPL (buy now pay later) service, cut back on subscriptions, regift or sell personal possessions to afford this festive season. 

Despite no restrictions on in-person shopping, online commerce will continue to dominate with only 35% planning to shop in-store more than online. While online shopping continues to be prevalent for the travel category, in-person shopping remains strong in most categories, especially food & drink, beauty, and apparel.

In addition, low-cost shipping offers are important to consumers in Australia, who believe A$9 is the maximum price they should pay. Higher-income shoppers are very likely to say that they will meet free-shipping minimums by adding to their cart, or will pay extra to guarantee delivery, two things that lower-income shoppers cannot afford to do.

Paige O’Neill, chief marketing officer at Sitecore, said, “Our survey shows that shoppers are deeply informed and looking for the best deals and online shopping experiences that brands can offer this Christmas. This season, shoppers will explore the best deals online and seek out brands that offer competitive pricing, buy-now-pay-later options and low-cost shipping.”

He added, “Brands that empathise with consumers’ inflation-forced financial constraints and focus on meeting their needs by delivering content that focuses on value and shows empathy and understanding will come out ahead this holiday season.”

Bengaluru, India – In one of the most unexpected gifts for the holiday season, local insurance provider ACKO Insurance has recently launched a holiday campaign that targets to make roads in the city of Bengaluru safer to travel by fixing its current inconsistent road structure.

Done in partnership with creative agency Leo Burnett Orchard, the campaign sees a bunch of workers clad in Santa Claus costumes working to fix the road potholes in the wee hours of the night. The project, which is also made in partnership with organization PotHoleRaja, patched over 150 potholes near Royal Meenakshi Mall in Bannerghatta to help make the roads safer and ensure a smooth ride for the commuters.

Further in the campaign video, onlookers watch the truck doors open as the Santas get to work, with a Christmas melody as a backdrop. The following morning, residents express their joy and gratitude upon waking up to the gift of a patched-up road.

Speaking about the campaign, Ashish Mishra, EVP for marketing at ACKO, said, “The campaign was born out of our desire to play a part in eliminating this menace and making road travel safer. We made this vision a reality by collaborating with PotHoleRaja to give the city’s residents an ideal Christmas gift. The campaign is also especially close to our hearts since it is part of ACKO’s bigger mission to promote and prioritise road safety for all.”

Meanwhile, according to Prathap B., founder and CEO at PotHoleRaja, their focus is to have accident-free roads and save lives by fixing potholes. He also added that their agenda is to drive awareness and find effective means to fix potholes.

“So, when we were approached for this campaign, we felt this would be the best thing we could do during Christmas for the people of Bengaluru. We are always on the lookout for companies and partnerships that understand our vision of pothole free roads, so we thank ACKO for supporting our cause,” Prathap said.

Pravin Sutar, creative head India at Leo Burnett Orchard, added, “Christmas is all about childlike innocence and smiles. And that’s exactly what we wanted to spread for the residents of Bengaluru. We hope that we’ve raised the bar for Christmas advertising in India, with this piece.”

The film is being amplified through digital channels and across social media.

India – New Delhi’s shopping center, Select CITYWALK, has launched a new campaign that seeks to fulfill forgotten Christmas wishes and inspire people to keep believing in ‘miracles’. 

The campaign, which was conceptualized by digital agency RepIndia, celebrates the adage of “never stop believing in the magic of Christmas,” aims to ignite the spark of ‘magic’ and ‘hope’ for Select CITYWALK’s guests of all ages.

Titled ‘#MerryWishmas‘, the film features the Select CITYWALK team asking its guests what they wanted for Christmas as little children, and giving it to them as a surprise at the end of the video. The film aimed to capture the genuine warmth of surprised smiles, ending with a heartwarming message – “Make someone’s wish come true and their happiness will stay with you forever!”

Gitanjali Singh, Select CITY WALK’s vice president of marketing, commented, “This year, with our #MerryWishmas campaign, we decided to fulfill some cherished unfulfilled wishes of shoppers and our store staff and the reaction we got was truly heartwarming.”

Meanwhile, Nikhil Kashyap, RepIndia’s assistant vice president of strategy and client success, said, “I am glad we were able to assist Select CITYWALK to deliver the right experience through poignant, relatable storytelling.”

Singapore – The short video sharing platform TikTok continues to rise in popularity globally, with the app being the most-downloaded app across Google Play and iTunes globally on Christmas day, the latest data from mobile data and analytics company App Annie.

Social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp–all owned by the recently rebranded tech giant Meta–ranked second to fourth. Meanwhile, social messaging platforms Snapchat and Facebook Messenger ranked fifth and sixth respectively.

Encrypted messaging platform Telegram ranked seventh, highlighting continued consumer patronage of encrypted messaging services along with strong network effects from a growing user base.

Singapore-grown Shopee ranked eighth, the highest-ranking shopping app worldwide, driven by strong uptake in India, LATAM, and Southeast Asia. Spotify ranked ninth globally for downloads. The music streaming app likely received a boost in demand from its end-of-year ‘wrapped’ campaign that has been widely shared on social media.

Lastly, video editing platform Capcut ranked tenth in the most-downloaded apps globally.

In terms of games, ‘Brain Story: Tricky Puzzle’ by Onesoft ranked first following a version released on Dec 21, 2021. ‘Poppy Rope Game’, an open-world action game by Zego Studio ranked second and ‘Rocket League Sideswipe’ by Psyonix (Epic Games) ranked third — a race car soccer game popularized on PC and console, this is the latest example of a gaming title successfully migrating to mobile.

Meanwhile, streaming platforms YouTube, Disney+, and HBO Max all ranked in the top 5 as demand for streaming exclusive content remained. In the case of YouTube, consumers preferred to subscribe to remove ads. It is also noted that digital collectibles app VeVe ranked ninth by spend — an indication of the demand for NFTs.

In terms of games, ROBLOX saw the greatest consumer spend as gamers worldwide spent Christmas day building in the metaverse and upgrading avatar skins and other in-game consumables. Free Fire ranked third for consumer spend — further evidence of online multiplayer gaming driving deep engagement and cross-device play.

India – In a very clever Christmas campaign by India-based delivery platform Swiggy Genie, we see a version of Santa that is all-ready and excited to explore other ‘job opportunities’ aside from his main holiday task of bringing gifts to everybody’s household.

Created together with digital creative agency Dentsu Webchutney, delivery platform Swiggy Genie aims to present its app benefits of being a reliable hand in delivery, most especially gift-delivery this holiday, through none other than Santa, who is shown outsource the task himself to the platform, hence, now ‘more available’ for other work. 

To add further quirkiness to the #SantaOpenToWork campaign, the main ad has been made a parody of the emerging ‘video resume’ with the campaign team even cooking Santa up his very own LinkedIn profile.

Sneha John, director for marketing at Swiggy, commented, “We wanted to remind Swiggy users and non-users alike that they can depend on Swiggy Genie to take care of gift deliveries and other chores this Christmas season. The #SantaOpenToWork campaign does just that, with some Christmas cheer and smart humor.”

To create more buzz around the campaign, Swiggy has used their Genie Instamart channels to drop unbranded flyers and business cards from Santa, with a special QR Code leading people to the video. The agency shared that tear-able posters were even put across multiple corporate offices to target ‘possible’ employers. 

Sanket Audhi, creative director at Dentsu Webchutney, shared that the campaign’s idea revolved around the question – If Swiggy Genie is taking over deliveries, what will Santa Claus do? 

“But we knew we had a winner when we thought of crafting the entire campaign around the #OpenToWork feature, which has become an instantly recognizable mnemonic. I hope people have as much fun watching the campaign as we had creating it,” said Audhi. 

Digital ads have been launched across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Wynk, and Inshorts, leading people to the video resume.

Auckland, New Zealand – In a bid to remind all of us to always keep safe come the Christmas festivities, New Zealand-based agency Motion Sickness has launched its newest campaign for their clients that plays on the notion of protocols we use to keep safe from COVID-19.

Titled ‘Scan In Santa’, the campaign features an artisan biscuit containing a directive for Saint Nick to follow the COVID protocol, all contained in a QR code. By scanning it, not only ensures that people can meet Santa safely this year, but each box also represents an NZ$40 donation to the Auckland Foundation COVID-19 Community Response Fund.

Will Macdonald, creative at Motion Sickness, said, “Given the events of the past year, it’s understandable that people might feel apprehensive about welcoming strangers back into their homes, let alone a paunch-bellied old man down their chimneys. With this in mind, we wanted to ensure Santa’s sack contains nil but joy.”

The campaign is a Christmas-themed target to the ‘new normal’ of relentless sanitizing, mask wearing and generalized droplet anxiety that has left this Christmas tradition in peril. In addition, with the long tail of COVID-19 wrapping itself around everything in its path, the preservation of a wholesome 2021 Christmas was paramount.

Meanwhile, Sam Stuchbury, founder and executive creative director at Motion Sickness, commented, “Let us be your Bloomfield as you sleep peacefully through the night, before Santa fills your stocking with everything you ever wished for.”

Manila, Philippines – If there is one thing that Filipinos also anticipate come the Yuletide season, it would be the roll-out of annual film festivals. These year-end film festivals usually create loud buzz as a fixture that celebrates the diversity of Filipino cinematography, and in the spirit of this along Christmas festivities, soft drink brand Pepsi in the Philippines has teamed up with creative agency BBDO Guerrero to release its newest campaign, ‘Pepsi Hit Sa Sarap Christmas Blockbusters’, an ode to the genres that define Philippine cinema. 

The campaign comprises three short digital films, which all use the same dialogue but each with a different theme, which all ends on how a pairing of Pepsi makes the Filipino ‘noche buena’ tastier. 

The first film ‘Familia Noche Buena’ (The Family Dinner) is a short creative take on a dramatic holiday get together. Meanwhile, ‘May Kumagat sa Dilim’ (Something Bites in the Dark) puts a supernatural Pinoy spin on the table, and lastly ‘Eats Sarap 2B With U Again’ (Eats Good 2B with U Again) takes on a slapstick comedy for a cheeky session with friends.

Speaking about the campaign execution, Mikey Rosales, marketing director at PepsiCo Philippines, said, “Pepsi wanted to create something different this year. While most of us are celebrating another Christmas at home, we also know that get-togethers might not always be cheerful – it can be dramatic at times – but together with Pepsi, there’s always some fun to be found in the sharing, the bonding, and of course, a tall glass of Pepsi.”

All of the films feature local Pepsi endorsers and influencers: YouTube content creator Pam Swing, Filipino basketball player Ricci Rivero and Internet sensation Mimiyuhh, alongside longtime endorsers and seasoned actors, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.

Meanwhile, David Guerrero, chairman at BBDO Guerrero, commented, “What’s great about this is that we brought the spirit of Filipino film festivals into the audience’s homes. A light-hearted reminder of what we used to enjoy outside, and put a spin on it to spread good vibes and cheer to families and friends celebrating the yuletide seasons in their homes.”

Philippines – Grab has extended GrabGifts, its in-app gifting capability to now allow users to send gifts to loved ones on-demand outside their home country. Users will now be able to send vouchers and gifts to family and friends in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. 

The enhanced gifting experience is powered by two new features, which is Grab’s revamped GrabGifts interface, and a new 100+ Cities Delivery feature, in BETA version, which enables users to order and send food and physical gifts from GrabFood and GrabMart merchant-partners that are available in the recipient’s city within an hour 

Grab said that the enhanced feature is in response to the current travel restrictions that continue to be unstable amid new Covid variants. The platform said its survey among Grab users in Southeast Asia revealed that more than half intend to send gifts on-demand to loved ones in other cities. 

Grab’s CMO Cheryl Goh said that while Grab was primarily marketed to answer to personal needs, the platform has eventually grown to be “a powerful vehicle” for building and maintaining connections between loved ones. 

“But with many countries yet to fully open their borders, we wanted to do more. We are so excited to now be able to bridge even longer distances between loved ones. We hope this will bring a festive cheer to all our users in Southeast Asia,” said Goh. 

The voucher categories under GrabGifts span Grab’s food, mart, express, and transport services. As part of the new interface, users will be able to send their recipients up to three voucher options to choose from. In addition, users will also be able to select from a range of designs and add in a personalized message.