Coca-Cola's festive Holidays Are Coming commercial is a surefire winner when it comes to brand amplification, a new study by effectiveness agency System1 has found.
System1 analysed 70 different Christmas ad campaigns by UK-based FMCG brands, to determine both the short-term and long-term effectiveness of the campaigns, as well as the emotional response. Each campaign was given a 1-5 star rating, based on the nature and intensity of response and the potential to create long-tern brand growth.
In addition, the agency allocated a 'spike' rating to each campaign, which predicts short-term sales impact and adds recognition of the brand and its assets into the mix – scores of 1.33 or higher are considered excellent.
Festive Favourites
Coca-Cola's commercial received 5.2 stars in the study, with a spike rating of 1.77, with the campaign showing no signs of fatigue after 25 years on the screen.
The remainder of the top five include Cadbury's Secret Santa campaign (4.8 star rating, 1.77 spike rating), Walker's Crisps' campaign featuring songstress Mariah Carey (4.2 star rating, 1.60 spike rating), luxury chocolate brand Montezuma's for its The Gift That Won't Go Wrong campaign (3.5 star rating, 0.87 spike rating) and Duracell for its Game Controller campaign (3.1 star rating, 1.23 spike rating).
his year’s recipe for effectiveness includes a dose of nostalgia and tradition, with brands continuing previous Christmas campaigns, System1 said. Christmas ads typically have strong storytelling and lots of communication (verbal and implicit) between characters, which creates a sense of 'betweenness'.
"Christmas isn't just about the big retailers - it's a chance for FMCG brands to shine," commented Jon Evans, CMO at System1.
"From Montezuma's frustrated bear to Cadbury's secret Santas, this Top 5 shows there's a benefit from breaking away from predictable gift suggestions and building a story and an occasion around the brand at Christmas time. You only need look at Coke's perennial Christmas cracker to see how strong that can be."
Separately, ESM is calling on its readers to vote for Europe's best festive retailer commercial – click here to view the ads and cast your vote!
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
