Ozone’s marketing lead, Bryan Scott, looks at how Christmas 2020 could be shaping up from a media perspective - with thanks to all of our advertiser and agency friends who shared the data behind these insights.
Following the perhaps predictable result that Waitrose topped the choice of supermarket preference for those working in media, the third week of our Twelve Weeks of Christmas competition was designed to shed light on how our industry might be approaching this wonderful, but in 2020 very unusual, time of the year.
We asked over 200 of our advertiser and agency friends a series of multiple choice questions largely centred around consumer behaviour and campaign planning. Firstly, we asked how you thought consumers might behave this year and almost half of you believe that shoppers will spend less and with more caution. This is in contrast to research from both Rakuten and Immediate Media, who suggest that the majority of consumers will be increasing or maintaining their Christmas spend this year. While Christmas 2020 will undoubtedly become a future case study for downturn modelling, there is no denying that advertisers, agencies and media owners alike will all be wishing for a Christmas cracker at the tills this year.
Next, we asked you about ad spend intentions for the 2020 festive season. Reassuringly, just over half of you are planning to spend in line with previous years with 10% of you even planning to increase your expenditure. However, this will be offset with a third of clients spending less due to budget restrictions. Given the challenges that businesses have faced throughout this year, choosing the right media that delivers great results will be paramount this Christmas.
When it comes to campaign timescales, almost 60% of you say that you will be operating broadly in line with previous years - perhaps unsurprising as many advertisers will no doubt have tried and tested milestones for their Christmas activity. However, not every campaign will follow this pattern as 10% of you say that timings will shift earlier while a further 11% are launching later.
We also wanted your views as to which three categories you thought would perform best this Christmas. A whopping 71% of you put Gaming Consoles, Games & Toys at the top of the list - Santa’s sleigh is obviously going to be as heavy as ever! This was followed by the 61% of you who chose Food & Drink, with third spot split between Computers, Tablets & Phones and Home Furnishings & Giftware (37%). Perhaps thanks to the nation’s renewed sense of community, one in ten of you thought Charity Gifting would be a big winner this year.
Finally, and for a bit of fun, we asked you what you would miss most from the annual work festive celebrations. The results in this word cloud come from every single verbatim comment and it’s clear to see where we’ll be heading as soon as we come out the other side of the coronavirus situation. Lunch anyone?
