With our holiday campaigns nearing their ends, we thought it'd be interesting to do a holiday wrap up. What were the trends this year? How are folks positioning their gifts? And what inspiration might we store away for next year? Some notes before we dive in:
1. I’m no machine, so I focused my research to home pages and Instagram feeds.
2. As always, many brands focused on “winter” or a general “holiday” concept, but that didn't stop most of them from putting up a Christmas tree or painting their site red. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa messaging barely made a blip. Perhaps they’ve been relegated to one-off emails. Perhaps I just don’t follow enough diversified brands? I suspect this is one of those, “Yes, and" situations.
3. Not everyone jumped on the holiday bandwagon early enough to make the article. Some – like H&M, Best Buy, and Nike – chose to focus on Black Friday first. I respect the restraint and deference to a calendar.
Group 1: The Better Gift
Pretty classic, can’t-lose strategy. Make your thing the best thing to give someone. This holiday season, you too can be the best gift-giver of the day.
via Sephora
Via Lulu
Via Apple
Via LaColombe
Via Ghia
Group 2: DEALS DEALS DEALS
In this economy, I’m not surprised big department stores still focus on the coupons and savings of it all. Not sure how much copywriting gold is in these hills, but figured we'd look anyway.
Via Macy’s
Via Target
Via JCPenny
Via Lowes
Group 3: It’s a Whole Thing
These folks went beyond a graphic and gift guide. Brands like Boy Smells, Poppi, and Parade developed fully-baked campaigns specifically for the holidays (Christmas). Correlation isn’t causation, but it’s curious that the younger, femme-leaning, DTC-ish brands are the ones who use this strategy the most.
Via Boy Smells
Via Poppi, this one also comes with a whole film promo
Via Parade
It’s worth noting both Poppi and Parade talk about how you use the product re: being back in your hometown.
Group 4: Minimal Merriment
Annnnd the largest group of all—those who care, but only if you do. These minimalists love a New Years Eve party and gift guides (both making and being on). Most have some visuals created for the occasion, but I’m willing to bet a lot of them are reskinning old campaigns (the only gift on your finance team’s list).
Via DS&Durga
Via Blue Bottle
Via Cat Bird
Via Mejuri
Via Our Place
Via Harry’s
Via New Balance
Via VanLeeuwen — the ONLY even remotely, potentially Hannukah nod I saw
Standouts and Closing Thoughts:
- Everyone targets the person giving the gift, which makes sense. Mejuri’s work explores targeting the recipient to nudge the giver. They aren’t the first, but I appreciated the candor/edge of it.
- Surprising to see less “gift yourself” as a main message. For most it’s a subhead or in the copy.
- Paid ads aside, I wonder how much these holiday campaigns and messages really move the product. Our minimalists tend to treat the holidays as a temporary product category with dazzling seasonal packaging.
- What if someone did an anti-gifting campaign a la Patagonia on Black Friday in 2011? Or a campaign that didn’t use the word gift at all?
Happy Solstice, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year, and Holidays,
Em
With our holiday campaigns nearing their ends, we thought it'd be interesting to do a holiday wrap up. What were the trends this year? How are folks positioning their gifts? And what inspiration might we store away for next year? Some notes before we dive in:
1. I’m no machine, so I focused my research to home pages and Instagram feeds.
2. As always, many brands focused on “winter” or a general “holiday” concept, but that didn't stop most of them from putting up a Christmas tree or painting their site red. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa messaging barely made a blip. Perhaps they’ve been relegated to one-off emails. Perhaps I just don’t follow enough diversified brands? I suspect this is one of those, “Yes, and" situations.
3. Not everyone jumped on the holiday bandwagon early enough to make the article. Some – like H&M, Best Buy, and Nike – chose to focus on Black Friday first. I respect the restraint and deference to a calendar.
Group 1: The Better Gift
Pretty classic, can’t-lose strategy. Make your thing the best thing to give someone. This holiday season, you too can be the best gift-giver of the day.
via Sephora
Via Lulu
Via Apple
Via LaColombe
Via Ghia
Group 2: DEALS DEALS DEALS
In this economy, I’m not surprised big department stores still focus on the coupons and savings of it all. Not sure how much copywriting gold is in these hills, but figured we'd look anyway.
Via Macy’s
Via Target
Via JCPenny
Via Lowes
Group 3: It’s a Whole Thing
These folks went beyond a graphic and gift guide. Brands like Boy Smells, Poppi, and Parade developed fully-baked campaigns specifically for the holidays (Christmas). Correlation isn’t causation, but it’s curious that the younger, femme-leaning, DTC-ish brands are the ones who use this strategy the most.
Via Boy Smells
Via Poppi, this one also comes with a whole film promo
Via Parade
It’s worth noting both Poppi and Parade talk about how you use the product re: being back in your hometown.
Group 4: Minimal Merriment
Annnnd the largest group of all—those who care, but only if you do. These minimalists love a New Years Eve party and gift guides (both making and being on). Most have some visuals created for the occasion, but I’m willing to bet a lot of them are reskinning old campaigns (the only gift on your finance team’s list).
Via DS&Durga
Via Blue Bottle
Via Cat Bird
Via Mejuri
Via Our Place
Via Harry’s
Via New Balance
Via VanLeeuwen — the ONLY even remotely, potentially Hannukah nod I saw
Standouts and Closing Thoughts:
- Everyone targets the person giving the gift, which makes sense. Mejuri’s work explores targeting the recipient to nudge the giver. They aren’t the first, but I appreciated the candor/edge of it.
- Surprising to see less “gift yourself” as a main message. For most it’s a subhead or in the copy.
- Paid ads aside, I wonder how much these holiday campaigns and messages really move the product. Our minimalists tend to treat the holidays as a temporary product category with dazzling seasonal packaging.
- What if someone did an anti-gifting campaign a la Patagonia on Black Friday in 2011? Or a campaign that didn’t use the word gift at all?
Happy Solstice, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, New Year, and Holidays,
Em
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