As the last few months of 2015 continue to tick away, we find ourselves swapping talk of pumpkins and witches costumes for that of fairy lights and reindeer jumpers. Here at LoveLove Films, there is only one familiar topic on everyone’s lips; the snow-filled, festive myriad of Christmas adverts that have now been released!

With some of the largest retailers vying for their ad to be the one that we are all discussing over our gingerbread lattes this festive season, this years crop is possibly the best yet. There are certainly some original and interesting narratives for us to indulge ourselves on as we gear up for a Christmas to remember.

Of course, you cannot mention the words Christmas advert without discussing the latest showing from the proverbial kings of Christmas advertising, John Lewis. Their Man on the Moon video, which premiered during last weeks episode of Gogglebox, has staggeringly been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube in its first week of release. Opting to take a much different approach to last years heart-warming Monty the Penguin campaign (which according to the Financial Times cost £6.9 million and saw a 4.8% rise in year-on-year sales), they have now teamed up with Age UK to bring us a timely reminder that nobody should be lonely at Christmas.

However, hot off the press and with over one million online views in 15 hours, Sainsburys’ “Mog’s Christmas Calamity” is a great example of how to effectively combine live-action, high-quality animation and bundles of emotion to make an advert with the potential to dethrone their high street rivals. Written by author Judith Kerr and produced by Abott Mead Vickers, the ad has certainly got those on social media purring!

Whilst there are those who question what a fluffy cat or even a man living on the moon have to do with selling groceries and fashion accessories, here at LoveLove we are just glad to see growing numbers of companies utilising the power of digital storytelling to create powerful and unique video content. More and more, we are now seeing the importance placed on narrative in advertising; without a good story an advert just gets lost in amongst the over-saturated pool of promotion that consumers simply ignore.

Storytelling is an innate part of the human psyche and the most successful advertisers are the ones who have embraced this fact; as Adweek Magazine’s Jon Hamm highlights, “the most powerful stories happen in the mind of the audience… and this presents marketers with an amazing opportunity, as the most powerful way to persuade someone of your idea is by uniting the idea with an emotion. It’s indisputable that the best way to do that is by telling a compelling story.”

Because of this, audiences want adverts to engage them, to invoke emotion and to take them on a journey; and as this years ads have shown, there is more than one way to do that.

Lidl’s “School of Christmas” puts a uniquely comical twist on the preparation we all go through for the big day, whilst watching Jeff Goldblum take his role of housewife to the extreme in Curry’s “Acting Grateful” had us snorting out our mid-morning coffee. The latest offerings from TKMaxx and Coca-Cola have that classical feel-good factor that we all love this time of year; and as nothing quite says Christmas like lorry loads of chocolate, Cadbury’s “Lorry Advent Calendar” has got us stocking up on selection boxes and its not even December yet!

Even though we now live in a digital age, television advertising has been, and remains, one of the most effective means of getting your brand message out there; and now with the invention of Sky AdSmart it is easier (and cheaper) than ever before for local and regional businesses to use TV as a means to showcase their own great video content.

And it’s easier than you might think! You don’t need the six-figure budget of John Lewis to create a powerful advert that will resonate with your audience.

So if you want to create your own original and memorable video, then the team here at LoveLove are well equipped and ready to help you take the next step on your journey.

Sources:
Why Agencies and Brands Need to Embrace True Storytelling
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/why-agencies-and-brands-need-embrace-true-storytelling-152534

Please Note: We did not make any of the Christmas campaigns or videos in this blog post, we just LoveLove love them!