Maria Sales & Marketing Director
Well, it’s that time of the year once again, but before we talk about Christmas Ads 2014, picture this… The tree is up, the presents are being wrapped, Santa’s letters have been posted (and the Christmas cards too). Next time you close the door to the chilly night and put your feet up with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie to watch some festive telly, look closely at the Christmas Adverts 2014 and marvel at the planning and care that goes into those few minutes, as well as their effect on the choices we make when it comes to where we go to buy all those Xmas goodies!
Here at Eat Marketing, we’re self confessed ad geeks and we’ve been taking a close look at the Christmas adverts 2014. As a creative bunch, we take a particular interest in how hard the creative teams behind the ads work to bring viewers a festive ad with all the power to make you buy from their stores. We’ve picked our top 5 and we want to tell you why they are our favourite Christmas adverts 2014…
Sainsbury’s Christmas advert 2014
Sainsbury’s World War One themed mini drama has to take first place in our list as not only does it take advantage of the pride we feel for our historical place in WW1, it draws upon the goodness of people with a message of sharing at its core.
If you haven’t seen it, take a look below. The story centres on enemy WW1 soldiers who stop fighting on Christmas Day and in particular, one English soldier’s beautiful gesture to a German soldier when he slips his Christmas present chocolate bar in his pocket whilst they are playing football. In a time of excess, this simple gesture from days gone by speaks volumes.
John Lewis Christmas advert 2014
Christmas isn’t Christmas without the obligatory John Lewis ad! For the past few years, John Lewis has dominated the hype surrounding the Christmas advert battles, and even though Sainsbury’s have the winning edge this year, the latest John Lewis Christmas ad still delivers. They have stuck to their tried and tested formula of connecting with people on an emotional level with a sweet little story.
This year, the advert features a boy who has a toy penguin, but up until the end of the ad, we see the penguin through the boy’s eyes…that he is a real penguin! In his wonderfully imaginative world, he sees that the penguin is lonely and that he wants love. The boy buys his toy boy penguin a girl penguin for Christmas and the enchanting tale reaches its sweet conclusion with a penguin kiss and the mum seeing what is actually real – her little boy playing with two toy penguins. Incidentally, parents can buy the toy penguins in store, alongside other Monty and Mabel (the names of the two penguins) memorabilia, creating another money-spinner for John Lewis, as well as the usual brand awareness that an advert such as this creates.
Aldi Christmas advert 2014
The recession has done wonders for Aldi as its reach as a place to shop encompasses different social classes, and their adverts have evolved in recent years to reflect this change. 2014 has seen them scoop another round of awards to add to their impressive list, including Grocer of the Year 2014 and Prima’s Best Family Supermarket 2014 award, and their Christmas ad takes into account that so many different kinds of people shop at Aldi.
The advert focuses on people eating their (Aldi) Christmas dinner in 2014 and the tables are deliciously stacked with a variety of Christmas goodies that look extremely tempting. Alongside the usual and traditional families at home (with particular focus on a variety of different social classes), we also see people who have to work on Christmas day such as firemen, policemen and even spacemen! There’s also a bloke on a beach and the celebrity Jools Holland!
This really is an ad for ‘everyman’, but another clever ploy to note is that even if you are not an Aldi customer, the delectable range of food shown will make you want to discover their ‘spend a little, live a lot’ promise.
Boots Christmas advert 2014
Boots are our surprise admission to our favourite Christmas adverts 2014 as their usual ‘here come the girls’ adverts are not our cup of tea. But their festive offering hits the spot with a heartfelt message about making people feel special and thought of. It’s also very down to earth and real with the focus on a nurse who is working on Christmas Day, but who comes home in the early hours of Boxing Day to find her family has recreated Christmas Day – just for her. It isn’t glitzy, it isn’t fancy, and there is a subtle (although powerful) nod to Boots stores and products, but it works really well.
We’ll admit, there were a few misty eyes in the office when we watched this again, which is why it gets our emotional Xmas ad of the year award!
McVitie’s Christmas advert 2014
Get ready, because we really have saved the best for last… This has to be the cutest advert we’ve ever seen, not just at Christmas, but ever! Whenever we play this, the ooh’s and ahh’s reverberate through the office and then, we all need a McVitie’s biccie and a cuppa! Click play now and coo over the adorable baby animals that emerge from a selection box of chocolate McVitie’s biscuits. These bundles of fur are so cute, we simply can’t pick a favourite.
How about you? Is it the cuddly pug puppy? The fluffy baby kittens or the perky pink piglet? And just when you think you there can’t be any more cuteness, the animals yap, meow, oink and quack their way through a Christmassy rendition of Yazoo’s classic 80’s hit, Only You. In fact, their Christmas advert 2014 is so good, it led us to their website, which carries the cute animal theme through. Now, where’s the biscuit tin?
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about, and watching our favourite Christmas adverts 2014 and we would like to take the opportunity to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy festive feasts galore and be merry…we certainly will! It has been a great year and we would also like to thank all our clients this year; we’ve created lots of fantastic work via the Eat Marketing office and we’re closing now until the New Year. It’s time to put our Christmas jumpers on, eat lots of Turkey and put our feet up for a well-earned rest.
