This year, Asda has launched a customer-centric, integrated Christmas campaign with a difference, which promises to bring to life the excitement of the entire festive season under the tagline “Christmas Made Better.” What makes it special, however, is that the Asda customer has played a key part in the development of the approach, with in depth research and insight steering the marketing direction. The campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi London is made up of 26 individual Christmas moments, moving in rhythm with the season and building up the anticipation that we all feel in the run up to the big day. It shows the range of festive treats and products available at Asda, following the festive customer journey to ensure we are providing everything they need to have a great Christmas.
In the first advert, which, as with all 25 other spots, was directed by Traktor through Rattling Stick, we are introduced to a Christmas dinner table scenario filled with a never-ending supply of food circulating around the more than extended table of family and friends enjoying the day. Other adverts airing this week include a child who is faced with a “Big Dilemma;” to behave or to misbehave if she wants to receive all the toys on her Christmas wish list. In another we see a family of “Elves” in their Christmas pyjamas, and a standoff between a cat and the Christmas tree. Each moment is based on real insights which customers will relate to and will raise a smile. The product focused campaign is a continuation of the retailer’s approach to marketing, which started with the September launch of the “That’s Better” campaign. This followed onto Halloween, which featured the tag line “Do Halloween your Way.”
Andy Murray, Chief Customer Officer at Asda, said: “Customers don’t need us to tell them how to enjoy Christmas. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve got Christmas nailed. But what customers do want is to know that they can trust Asda to offer them everything they need to make their Christmas live up to their expectations, including great quality, great prices and exciting product ranges for the festive season. We know our customers want the special premium Christmas products without paying the premium price. They want to serve something really special that they wouldn’t expect to see in store all year round to impress their family and friends. There has been a huge amount of investment into the freshness, quality and price of our Christmas range, which is highlighted by the number of awards our food has received in recent weeks. This includes our success in the annual Good Housekeeping Taste Test and the BBC Good Food Awards, where we came joint first with M&S, with judges asking if our food is the new gourmet go to?”
The TV ads (below) will run alongside OOH, in-store, POS, and digital executions, all showing the magic of the individual moments that make up Christmas. The messaging will be consistent and positioned on the right channels at the right time and social media will also be used to reach audiences and share some of the most popular lines. James Martin will also feature, sharing his personal picks from the range, the stories behind the products and offer customers cooking hints and tips for the festive season. The integrated campaign, which includes media planning courtesy of Blue 449, is a highly flexible and in-depth campaign that shows off the variety of the products nicely and wisely shies away from putting all of its eggs in one basket, whilst keeping things simple, relatable and (above all else) very very Christmassy.
