Well if YouTube views are anything to go by then John Lewis has won the Christmas Advert crown of 2021, racking up over 1.5m views at the time of sitting down to binge-watch the 2021 Christmas advert offerings! But, do we agree? It’s time for a marketing agency’s perspective on the Christmas adverts of 2021 so let’s dive right in!

John Lewis set the standard of the new age of Christmas adverts back in 2007 when they dropped £6million pounds on ‘Shadows’ – an advert with an incredibly clever concept, creating a snowscape of a lady and her beloved pup (complete with drifting snowflakes and billowing scarf) from the shadows of everyday items that could be purchased from John Lewis. Fast forward a couple of years and we all expect a tear-jerker coming from the retail supergiant. Some of the country’s biggest brands really understood the assignment and started to tap into consumers’ deepest emotions of family, belonging and love.

And this year it seems, is no different. The Christmas Adverts of 2021 have really delivered (and dropped incredibly early). 

Disney Christmas Advert

Many families across the UK are now blended families, parents separated and new partners being brought into the fold. It can be an incredibly difficult time for all involved, bringing huge change and adjustment with it and Disney has captured these moments that so many can relate to beautifully. The new family begin to build new Christmas traditions together until the Stepdad inadvertently drops the gingerbread house whilst trying to save it from the dog. And so he spends all night creating the most magical gingerbread house for his new step kids and takes so much joy from watching their amazed little faces. In the wise words of the beautiful soundtrack from Gregory Porter, “love runs deeper than words”. The advert reminds us that love isn’t infallible and takes work and time, but that is will always be there nonetheless.

John Lewis Christmas Advert

The John Lewis Christmas advert takes us out of this world this year. A young schoolboy follows a crashed UFO into the woods and comes across a young alien with a glowing star on her chest. The little boy returns the next day with a Christmas jumper that has a light-up star, trying to show that they’re the same. He teaches his new friend some of Earth’s Christmas traditions, whilst decorating a tree, shares snow and mince pies, Christmas films and even a kiss before his newfound alien friend returns to her planet. It’s a heartwarming reminder that Christmas is a time to come together, no matter how different we may be and enjoy the things that matter the most.

Boots Christmas Advert

We love Boots’ “Bags of Joy” advert this year, giving us all a chance to reminisce a childhood favourite, Mary Poppins. The bottomless bag of joy is literally the gift that keeps on giving and it’s wonderful to see so many friends and family being reunited in the advert after many faced a lonely Christmas in 2020, and it’s a particularly emotional advert for those of us who no longer have their grandparents around.

Lidl Christmas Advert

Lidl has gone with a brilliant concept that shows that no matter how many years go by, some things will always remain the same, Uncle Gary doing one better than everyone else and making cringy jokes whilst mum is desperate to get the perfect family photo. And ending it with a reminder that no matter what happens, Lidl “will always be Lidl on price” is a nice touch.

So What Does a Marketing Agency Think of All This?

So what does all of this tell us, brands love to roll out the mushy content at Christmas and that’s it? Absolutely not! It’s because brands understand the purchasing decisions are deeply rooted in the emotional part of our brain, rather than the rational side. There is no more powerful advertising than that which can tug on the heartstrings and make people believe they will feel a certain way when buying a particular product or service. So how can we as marketers learn from this?

We need to be creating content that evokes emotion, even in a B2B world. Play on customers’ frustrations and demonstrate how your products and services can help solve them. Don’t be afraid to put personality into your communications, people buy from people after all. You don’t have to embark on a multimillion-pound advertising campaign to start changing the way you communicate with your customers, in fact far from it. Just small tweaks here and there will help you to tap into your customers’ emotions and put you at the forefront of their minds when they’re making purchasing decisions.

And if you’re really unsure about how to draw the emotional side of your brand through to your marketing efforts then reach out to our team today. We’re a full-service marketing agency, ready to help you transform your communications and tugging on those heartstrings (although we can’t promise we’ll make them cry like the John Lewis adverts do!).