Over half of our clients say brands will bring their festive ad campaigns forward this year, our survey says
Brands will launch their Christmas advertising campaigns earlier this year as consumers bring their festive planning forward, according to more than half of agency and brand clients surveyed by The Ozone Project.
With consumers eager to erase the ghost of Christmas 2020, which was so heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and avoid missing out due to the recent supply chain issues, only 24% of agencies say brands intend to begin their festive campaigns in-line with previous years.
In terms of ad spend, over a quarter of agencies say that brands are spending more this holiday season to maximise upon the extra money consumers have set aside for Christmas. According to PwC, almost a quarter of consumers say their lockdown savings will be spent on Christmas shopping and celebration this year.
And of the categories where consumers are expected to spend that extra money, food and drink comes out on top, as 72% of clients say it is going to be the biggest spending category at Christmas. After last year’s party was pooped by the pandemic and the government’s need to tighten lockdown restrictions over the festive period, the expectation is that consumers are clearly hoping that this year’s celebrations will see the champagne bottles popping rather than being put on ice. Let’s hope so!
Elsewhere, with going out now definitely the new staying in and the realness of Zoom fatigue hopefully a thing of the past, the second highest consumer spending categories are expected to be beauty, and cosmetics and toiletries (both 69%), with the gift of looking fabulous in-person with clear, wrinkle-free skin and zero eye baggage important to many of us tired of being stuck at home.
Elsewhere, gifting the means of escaping the day-to-day is expected to be another high spending area, as 61% of our clients say consumers will also concentrate their spending on travel and leisure deals. From UK staycations, such as with Airbnb’s new gift cards, to winter sun breaks, now that international travel is more open the gift of a holiday (or a contribution to one) is deemed to be a big winner this year. And finally, and this comes as no real surprise, 52% of our clients say both games and toys, and console games will be big spending categories for consumers this year.
Finally, while the majority of respondents say that they will keep their own Christmas spending in-line with previous years, almost a quarter say they plan to splash out more, with a high intent among all respondents that this festive season will be far more celebratory with friends and family. And, as was the case last year when we surveyed our agency partners, the things that most agency folks are most looking forward to enjoying this year are office Christmas parties and media lunches. No surprises there then!
