5 Brands That’ll Inspire Your Christmas Marketing Campaigns to Ring Jingles of Success

Reading Time: 8 minutes

It’s the most exciting time of the year with streets bustling with holiday shoppers scampering to get their hands on the best deals and online shoppers finally ticking off items on their wishlists. But with your Christmas marketing campaign plans already in motion, have you stopped to think about how you can re-optimize them? If not, then it’s time you do because the clock’s ticking!

To get you started, we pulled together the top five most inspirational holiday marketing campaigns running this season. But before we begin, it’s worth understanding what the current holiday shopping landscape looks like. 

Current Landscape of Christmas and Holiday Shopping

A recent research by J.P. Morgan has indicated plummeting consumer confidence in the U.K., with  48% of shoppers feeling unnerved about their finances due to the rising costs of living. US shoppers echo a similar sentiment, showcasing concerns about inflation. 

Regardless, it doesn’t mean you dim your holiday marketing campaigns. ‘Tis the season to be jolly! Almost four years after COVID-19 and the resultant restrictions, consumers are excited to go all out and celebrate the seasonal festivities. This is supported by a recent survey by McKinsey that found 55% of Americans were excited about holiday shopping, with 56% of them starting their shopping in October itself.

So despite the recessionary landscape, consumers are still planning to shop – albeit with tightened purse strings. This means that they’re going to be looking for value and convenience from brands. So it’s time you tighten up your sleigh belts and ring the Christmas marketing bells!

Read on to deconstruct some of the top recent holiday marketing campaigns and get inspiration for revamping your own.  

Top Christmas Marketing Campaigns of the Festive Season

   i) LEGO

Campaign Name: Build a Playful Holiday.

In 2022, the LEGO Group launched its ‘biggest and most playful’ holiday campaign, across TV, digital, and Lego stores in 35 markets. Featuring Katy Perry, the commercial is entirely driven by children showcasing what the holidays mean for them. 

The aim behind the campaign is to “inspire [consumers] of all ages to prioritize play over perfection and unleash a childlike joy this Holiday season,” according to Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at the LEGO Group.

To align with this theme, LEGO’s social handles have posted various holiday-themed content, such as #LEGOtakeover (where kids takeover LEGO’s Instagram page), LEGO’s new collections for gift giving, LEGO creations made by fans, and numerous video segments with Katy Perry.

Additionally, there is a Holiday Gifts page on LEGO’s website that is dedicated to Christmas shopping. This page is a one-stop shop with information about limited-time holiday deals, inspirational holiday DIY content, user-generated content in the form of holiday photos shared by customers playing with LEGO, and personalized recommendations of LEGO toys to purchase.

Lastly, LEGO’s emails to its subscribers cover similar line items such as gifting ideas, seasonal deals, LEGO creations by the community, benefits of LEGO VIP (its loyalty program), and other key information to inspire them to shop with LEGO.

🔍 Key Takeaways: One of the highlights of LEGO’s campaign is the “seasonal builds from our Lego community section,” which includes holiday creations by LEGO’s customers. These are featured on LEGO’s website, newsletters, and social media. Leveraging user-generated content is the most cost-effective strategy to expand the reach and awareness of your brand. It gives your brand a human touch, adds variety to the usual content, and helps build a sense of community among your audience. And when better to do this than during the holiday season?  As brands compete for a larger share of the customer’s shopping list, incorporating insights-led personalization in your engagement strategy should be your priority. This will guarantee higher conversions. LEGO does this well by offering personalized recommendations to customers on what they can purchase for gifting purposes, based on their preferences and buying behavior on the website.

   ii) Casper  

Key Messaging: Escape the holiday woes by entering Slumberland. 

Instead of purely focusing on the Christmas celebrations, Casper launched a full holiday marketing campaign. 

To connect with holiday shoppers, it partnered with Netflix to screen the “Slumberland” film via regional ticketed screenings and virtually, calling it the “The World’s Largest Slumber Party.”  Families and children of all ages were welcome and encouraged to wear their coziest pajamas. Snacks, refreshments, and surprise giveaways from Casper and Netflix were also provided. 

This initiative aimed to give shoppers an escape from holiday woes.

“As a brand that designs innovative products and experiences to help the world sleep better, we’re thrilled to team up with Netflix to help families relax and unwind this holiday season while escaping to Slumberland,” said Chesen Schwethelm, CMO at Casper. 

This messaging resonated in Casper’s emails and text messages, which featured sleep tips, early access to information on sales, new product announcements, and more.

Similarly, Casper launched a Holiday Sleeptacular hub on its website, which has all the information related to its recommended products, along with seasonal discounts. 

This page aligns with Casper’s holiday campaign messaging and highlights Casper’s customer-friendly policy, i.e. 100-night trial on mattresses, speedy and free shipping, no-contact delivery, free returns, and a 10-year limited warranty.

🔍 Key Takeaway: This shopping season, consumers’ shopping behavior is expected to be fickle, as they search for the best value. While playing on price is a tricky business, especially when every other brand is giving items at discounted prices, what you can do is focus on building the consumer’s trust by offering purchase flexibility. Casper’s risk-free trial policy is a great example of how you can build the consumer’s trust and encourage them to buy from you over others.

   iii) London North Eastern Railway

Key Messaging: Get value for money, convenience, and enjoyment on your holiday travels.

Ushering in the festive spirit, London North Eastern Railway (LNER), acclaimed as the ‘Best UK Domestic Train Service’ in 2022, announced a ticket sale for customers traveling between 21st December 2022 and 6th January 2023 on the East Coast route.

There is no booking fee, and customers can receive live journey alerts, select their preferred seat, and receive a £5 free plus 2% credit back on all future bookings after signing up for LNER’s loyalty program – LNER Perks. 

A special festive menu was also introduced onboard LNER for Standard and First Class passengers, which will run all-through December.  And to help cost-conscious customers get the best value fares, LNER allows them to sign-up for ticket alert notifications via the LNER website and app to know when tickets are released for sale.

The objective is to provide the best experience to customers traveling to see loved ones over the holiday period as living costs in the UK continue to rise.

To add to this, LNER updated its website and social media handles with inspirational travel content for this Christmas. It even changed its logo and banners on all its social media handles to showcase the festive spirit.

Lastly, LNER launched a holiday special giveaway with 12 Christmas prizes for 12 lucky Perks members who’ll get a chance to win £100 worth of Perks credit each. 

🔍 Key Takeaway: Christmas time is about celebrating and having fun. Hence it is a good opportunity for you to integrate your loyalty programs into your seasonal campaigns. A great way to do this is to incentivize consumers through extra discounts and exclusive competitions for loyalty members, just like LNER did.

   iv) Macy’s

Campaign Name: Give Love. Give Style.

If you’re looking for inspirational Christmas marketing campaigns, you surely can’t miss checking out Macy’s. This year Macy’s launched a series of commercials to promote how you can find joy for everyone on your gifting list with Macy’s Gift Finder. 

True to its campaign, Macy’s has one of the most comprehensive gift finders hosted on its website. Customers can filter out the perfect gifts for their needs, based on gender, age, product category, budget, and more.

Also, to improve the customers’ holiday shopping experience Macy’s is providing the following:

• Daily inspirational live streams with styling and beauty tips
• Free access to a personal stylist
• Extended store hours
• Macy’s app for easy shopping and viewing the latest deals and rewards collected
• Facility to buy online and pick up at their store 
• Same-day delivery option  

Additionally, there is a Holiday Celebrations Hub on Macy’s website and app dedicated to celebrating the holiday season with Macy’s. It includes the latest deals, upcoming event details, decoration tips, images of Christmas-themed displays at Macy’s stores, ideas for stocking stuffers, and more.

To engage customers during the holiday season, Macy’s’ social media handles and emails feature updates on the latest deals, fun trivia and prizes, and information about Macy’s customer-friendly policies to support holiday shoppers. 

Furthermore, Macy’s leveraged SMS marketing to update customers about the latest offers and create the urgency to shop in time. 

Continuing the over 160-year tradition, Macy’s is also hosting in-store visits with Santa across November and December via prior reservations. Those who can’t attend in-person can create an account on Macy’s Santaland at Home to unlock an immersive virtual reality experience. This is an online hub where children can meet the Elves and St. Nick, take selfies with Santa, engage with magical holiday scenes, and play fun games. 

🔍 Takeaway: When planning your Christmas marketing campaigns, having an omnichannel strategy is key to ensuring that you’re at the top of your customer’s minds. Also, there must be consistency in the messaging of all the channels otherwise, your marketing communication can be offputting. For example, Macy’s has a well-integrated online and offline engagement strategy, and it makes sure to highlight its customer-friendly policy everywhere.

   v) TUI UK

Key Messaging: Jet off to escape the freeze with TUI’s last-minute holiday deals.

For its Christmas marketing campaign, TUI UK launched numerous deals on bookings made on the platform. Customers can save up to £150 for travel over the Christmas break, with prices starting from £80pp a night on all-inclusive holidays. 

TUI shared this information with its customers via its website and regular e-mails to its subscribers. Along with the special holiday deals, TUI’s emails also share recommended places for travel over the Christmas break and the reasons to choose TUI. 

TUI’s main landing page encourages customers to travel with confidence owing to TUI’s Holiday Promise, which includes:

• Package refund guarantee: Money back within 14 days if TUI cancels a booking and ABTA and ATOL protection for all bookings to ensure financial protection
• Flexible payment options: Manage your payments in a way that suits you and leverage free kids’ places.
• TUI service secured: 1,000s of Travel Experts and reps available to help you 24/7 

To add to the Christmas excitement, TUI launched the ‘12 Vacays of Christmas’ giveaway on its website where people can submit their details into the windows of the TUI advent calendar and get a chance to win a holiday every day from the 1st to the 12th of December. This was promoted heavily on TUI’s social handles and emails.  

🔍 Takeaway: Inflation is rising, and so is the cost of living. It’s more important than ever to show your customers that you’re always there to support them. Having customer-friendly policies and offering financial protection, are some of the ways in which you can win their trust.

Conclusion 

The above campaigns demonstrate that there’s truly no limit to the extent of creativity when you’re planning your Christmas marketing campaigns. 

And even though customer loyalty at this point seems questionable, brands that really make an effort to understand their customers and showcase the value customers can gain from them will shine through. 

If you’re looking for inspiration for other holiday marketing campaigns from leading European and American brands, check out our latest guide, 7 Best Customer Engagement Recipes for the Holiday Season. 

Can’t get enough? Then stay tuned for Volume 2 of our Holiday Marketing guide, which we’ll launch very soon.