With the end of the year just around the corner and the festive period in full swing, we take a look at the Christmas campaigns 2019 that have been making an impact this year. From Zalando to S. Oliver and Douglas Cosmetics, we take a look at how these brands have championed their holiday strategies and see which channels and voices have been key to their success.
Celebrating Milestones
In the case of German fashion company S. Oliver, the heritage brand launched a campaign celebrating its 50th anniversary. As part of their strategy, S.Oliver incorporated a variety of tactics aimed at impacting the diverse communities that they have accumulated over the years. One of the more interesting was the collaboration with the Amsterdam-based influencer Style Scrapbook, who commands the attention of Millennials and Gen Z audiences. For the campaign, she posted a snap of herself wearing a reversible denim and plaid jacket, with matching trousers to boot. What appears to be a simple post on Facebook has in fact reached over 1.7 million people so far, although only around 150 have chosen to engage with it.
The brand chose to follow up on this partnership by posting Style Scrapbook’s picture of her S. Oliver look on Instagram, aiming to build on the success of the post and also draw a strong connection between the influencer and the brand. The brand-shared Instagram post has managed to reach over 135K so far.
Understanding the value of Voices for your brand’s campaigns, we often talk about developing the perfect mix, consisting of Owned Media, Influencers, Media, Celebrities, and Partners. As mentioned above, the use of influencers has been integral to the 50th Anniversary campaign.
When it comes to Owned Media, S.Oliver’s video announcing the inauguration campaign on their YouTube channel has already gained close to 40,000 views, using the branded hashtag #50yearssoliver to increase visibility (the YouTube video is only available in certain regions, but can be viewed on Vimeo). That makes it their most popular owned video, proving that leveraging company milestones at key moments of the year, as well as selecting the optimal mix of touchpoints (Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube in this case), can generate valuable reach of campaigns and increase overall performance.
Expression and Inclusion
Speaking of numerous touchpoints, online e-commerce store Zalando benefited by opting for a strategy that united across socials seamlessly to ensure the experience of the campaign was consistent across the channels their consumers reach them. This year they launched their new "Free to Be" slogan - their first slogan since 2012.
Speaking about the campaign, Jonny Ng, Director Marketing Strategy & Campaigns at Zalando said, “we believe in a world where everyone is free to be themselves, regardless of size, age, gender or background. Zalando wants to become the Starting Point for Fashion, catering to every style from casual to street style, basics to premium; enabling our customers to express their personal sense of style with us.” Since its unveiling in September 2019, the campaign has gone from strength to strength and has been rolled out for the Christmas season.
To highlight, a campaign post from December 10 on the brand’s Instagram profile uses sentiment to drive the message: “It ain't Christmas until you open your pajamas from mum... 🎁.” Considering the time of year and the association of the holiday period traditions, the caption is emotive and the set of pajamas chosen is from the on-trend, undergarment brand sensation Calvin Klein, earning 2K likes. Another post that sparked a peak of engagement for Zalando (with a reach of over 800K), was this one from December 14:
Again, opting to use visuals and messaging that communicates sentiments appropriate for the season, Zalando shared a post with a mother and son in matching sweaters. Look closer, and you’ll realize that this isn't just any mother and son modeling, but Munich-based influencer Viktoria Rader and one of her two children. Zalando is another example of activating local influencers in order to demonstrate authority on a global scale.
Notable about Zalando's Christmas extension of the “Free to Be” campaign, is that they've managed to make fashion friends amongst the chic, yet Gen Z-friendly Media Voices of Elle Italia and Grazia Italia.
This Instagram post by Elle Italia, featuring Italian influencer family, Digital Modern Family, has reached over 540K and accounts for the Media, Partner, and Influencer Voices, all in one post.
Christmas Traditions
For our next highlight, we turn our attention to the beauty retailer, Douglas Cosmetics, who decided to take the more traditional route for their holiday campaign, showcasing a beauty advent calendar leading up to Christmas. As an incentive to increase user interaction with the brand, the strategy involved giveaways of products sold at Douglas Cosmetics.
For the post dedicated to the 14th day of Christmas, a curated selection of makeup was included. This post showcased one of Urban Decay Cosmetics' latest makeup palettes among other items, using the buzz around the just-released collection in tandem with the giveaway mechanic to their advantage. Accompanied by a series of Instagram Stories, the visual branding of Douglas’ Christmas campaign had the desired effect; With over 15K likes and nearing 11K comments so far, this strategy has delivered one of the most engaging posts by Owned Media for the beauty retailer on social media. By utilizing bold visuals, a simple yet popular giveaway mechanic and a just-released makeup collection, Douglas Cosmetics created a winning combination.
When it comes to reach and engagement, a similar post showcasing the Dyson Supersonic Hairdryer reached over 917K and rising. Not only that, the post has over 27K comments so far. For deeper insights into how your campaigns are working across social, online, and printed media, check out our media coverage reports.
Get Physical to Amplify Your Campaign
In today’s digitally saturated world, companies are understanding the value that physical events and experiences can have on their brand. To offer more than just a taste of their latest product or collection via digital means, brands are turning to events to drive meaningful experiences and connect with the consumer. The festive season couldn’t be more appropriate as it’s all about getting together. Zalando, for example, did just that to tie their aforementioned digital campaign with an event, inviting selected influencers to a Christmas Dinner. Opting for an omnichannel strategy, Zalando was able to drive a 360-degree experience and further amplify their campaign through the trusted Voice of the opinion leaders invited.
Focusing on events specifically, enhancing the guest experience and taking advantage of technology to support your campaign, is a must. Make sure everyone has a first-class welcome; check them in at the door so they feel at home. Or incorporate the latest tech like implementing RFID chips into your invitations, so that your guests don’t have to stop at the door. They will receive a welcome notification as soon as they arrive. We’ve talked about the importance of measuring the impact of events previously, so for specific world events, like Christmas, it’s important to have a firm understanding of the actions that worked, why and when. Ensuring you have the right tools integrated mean you’ll be able to measure the impact and calculate the true ROI of your efforts.
As the year comes to an end, and we look back at these campaigns, hopefully this provides some festive food for thought for next year. Keep track of the conversations around your brand and the marketing actions you undertake to gather valuable insights into brand performance. Until next year...
By Launchmetrics Content Team
The Launchmetrics content team is always on the lookout for new trends in the fashion and technology sector. We are geeks with style and lovers of good stories!
