‘Tis the season for feel good TV ads and for some of the most comprehensive and successful integrated marketing campaigns.
Integrated marketing is the backbone of any effective campaign. It’s about creating a seamless, consistent, unified message across every channel, so each touchpoint reinforces the next.
This strategic approach to marketing ensures brand messages are consistent across channels to tell a single, coherent brand or campaign narrative.
And at this time of year some of the best examples of integrated marketing are retailers’ Christmas campaigns – often with a highly anticipated TV advert as the focal point.
While some ads rely on emotional storylines, others include comedy and some involve famous and much-loved characters and actors to draw in the viewer. But whatever the story, brands’ Christmas TV adverts are typically just one element of a much wider, integrated marketing campaign.
The most effective Christmas TV ads act as a catalyst for a larger campaign designed to build anticipation, drive conversation and, ultimately, increase engagement and sales during the most competitive retail period of the year.
Take John Lewis, for example; their advert ‘If you can’t find the words, find the gift’ – featuring the 90s hit ‘Where Love Lives’ – is centred around the emotional narrative of a father and son who use music as a way of communicating. Far from being a standalone story, the ad is the centrepiece of an entire seasonal campaign. John Lewis has extended the narrative beyond the TV screen, into the physical and online retail environment. They are selling the song featured in the advert, with profits going to charity and shoppers can purchase items ‘as seen in the ad’, from the record player to the clothes the actors are wearing, on the John Lewis website.
Meanwhile, John Lewis social channels are packed with behind-the-scenes content, interviews with the artist and creative insights that deepen the audience’s emotional connection. The advert may grab the initial attention but the supporting content keeps people talking long after its first airing.
Sainsbury’s BFG ‘The Unexpected Guest’ campaign works in a similar way. The ad introduces the campaign theme and the big friendly giant character, with the narrative carrying across to stores. Shelves are lined with BFG merchandise, from themed sweets to other Roald Dahl products, giving customers an opportunity to engage with the story in tangible ways.
Aldi has mastered this too with its much-loved Kevin the Carrot series. What began as a quirky character in a TV advert 10 years ago has evolved into a full-blown brand asset. Each year, customers flock to buy Kevin merchandise from soft toys and pyjamas to baubles and chocolate. The advert builds emotional affinity, but the merchandise drives actual sales.
This is the power of an integrated Christmas marketing campaign. It’s not about a single advert, but a carefully orchestrated blend of channels and tangible products. The advert is typically the grand reveal, the moment that captures attention and draws consumers in, but what surrounds it is what sustains that attention across the entire season.
So, next time you watch a Christmas advert, remember it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real impact comes from the multi-touchpoint strategy working behind the scenes to shape brand perception, drive engagement and keep the retailer present in conversations at every opportunity.
How can we help?
As specialists in integrated B2B communications, we’re experienced at devising consistent and unified narratives that drive impact and engagement across all channels. We help brands with each stage and channel for integrated marketing campaigns, from the foundational starting point of strategy and proposition, through to editorial and web content, targeted advertising, social engagement and sales enablement.
For ideas on how to make your brand sparkle in 2026, get in touch.