Key takeaways
- UK households spent £13.8bn on Christmas shopping suggesting that inflation will not cap festive spending
- People will pay 53% more for sustainable offerings
- Value is the most important purchasing decision, beyond brand loyalty
Historically, a successful Christmas campaign has looked like sales. But what about if this year your sales didn’t come with a hefty environmental price tag? What if this Christmas was embedded with brand values and meaning, alongside profit?
Brand perception and customer sentiment help businesses generate long-term loyalty and revenue, rather than quick seasonal wins alone.
With three months until Christmas, we’re here to help you plan a meaningful Christmas campaign that spreads plenty of good vibes alongside your festive cheer.
What should your Christmas campaign be about?
According to research from Kantar, UK households spent a record-breaking £13.8 billion on Christmas in 2024. That was up £500 million on 2023. Despite inflation impacting prices, Christmas spending was still above the inflation rate, meaning that cost was not a major factor in people having a good time at Christmas. Consumers may have been more aware of their finances, but it didn’t completely curtail their spending habits.
The conversation around sustainability and more ethical consumerism is hard to ignore. It means that consumers are now more aware of where they are putting their money and also more willing to demand that companies make changes to consider people and planet alongside profits.
According to Conmarch, “64% of customers [prioritise] sustainability when choosing where to shop” and 51.96% of consumers “would remain loyal to brands with eco-friendly practices”.
Reading your audience is important and there is room for more compassionate Christmas campaigns which do away with promoting unsustainable habits and promote a better way to consume.
Making your Christmas campaign more meaningful through storytelling
How often does your Christmas campaign centre around a story? Unless you’re John Lewis or another big name retailer creating festive campaigns which have become a metaphorical switching on of the Christmas lights, probably never. The Christmas season is often about capitalising on sales and planting the seed for prospects for the new year.
But storytelling has a massive part to play in your campaigns, especially around Christmas time. While we can get caught up in the finances and the logistics, there’s value in playing into your customer’s reality for Christmas. It’s not all merriment and cheer around the Christmas table. For some, this is a time to remember loved ones, sometimes with a sense of loneliness. For others, this is the most hotly-anticipated date in the calendar. So how will you pivot to tell a story with emotional anchorage – rather than just selling your products?
Making your Christmas campaign more meaningful through long-term impact
Every so often, even Christmas needs a rethink. Your goal might be on sales but how do you go beyond short-term seasonal wins and, instead, shoot for more meaningful impact? After all, it’s not just your existing customers that are going with you into the new year. How do you get prospects to convert and understand what your brand is really about?
When you’re doing your annual planning, think about Christmas as a point in the calendar that’s just as important as the other months of the year. Consider asking yourself how you can use Christmas time to advance messaging around your brand’s values and mission beyond the season’s bestsellers and top stocking fillers.
Making your Christmas campaign more meaningful through ethical giveaways
One of the most frequent ways that we see brands do Christmas gifting is through giveaways – namely on social media. Advent calendars, countdowns to Christmas, prize draws. They’re all the rage. Not so trendy? The single-use ‘gifts’ that no one wants or needs.
The solution? More consideration into what you’re giving away. Rather than just having blanket gifts for customers who enter your prize draw, offer them the chance to choose their own gift from your carefully curated selection.
Take an audit of the prizes in your giveaway. Consider if they are:
- Single or multi-use
- Sustainable
- Useful
- Ethically produced
- Sourced from a company that puts people and planet before profits
In Conmarch’s ‘Customer Loyalty predications 2025 and Beyond’ report, it found that “consumers are willing to pay 53% more for sustainable products, indicating broad support for environmentally friendly options.”
You may also consider the ability to allow your customers to give back or donate their gift or the value of it to a worthy cause. Companies like Charity Vouchers allow you to load up gift cards so customers can donate directly to their chosen charity. Other companies, like WellBox, offer hampers which each come with a charity donation included.
The result is that with every interaction, you’re showing your existing and would-be customers what’s important to you. You’re giving them the opportunity to buy into your values and make their own ethical choice. The payback on this is loyalty – and that’s important.
According to a recent survey by EY, value is now the most important purchasing decision. People will not stay loyal to brands just because that’s where they’ve always shopped. They’re now willing to swap to cheaper alternatives that align better with their financial situation or invest in products that align with their personal values and support a wider mission. What this means is that brands have to do more to convince their customers that they are the right choice. It means getting under the skin of your customer and appealing to them where they’re at. Whether that’s looking for more sustainable products, meaningful gifts or options that give back. It’s all about striking the right balance.
And with the right messaging, emotional storytelling and longevity in their Christmas campaigns, that is possible.
