MANILA, PHILIPPINES– No one can make sense of the year that is 2020 but that will not stop creatives from trying. The word on creativity, adobo magazine, talks to Krow’s Deputy Executive Creative Director, Annie Fox; and Who Wot Why Client Partner, Charles Faircloth.
Faircloth opened that there is no one universal sentiment to wrap up the last twelve months and it has manifested in more ways than one:
Not unlike the Hollywood output of the 1930s Depression-era, Christmas 2020 has been an opportunity for some brands to create work of therapeutic escapism for its audience.
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“Aldi’s Kevin adventures, Coca Cola’s Dad’s epic journey, Disney’s generational tear-jerker or Argos’ magician-sisters-in-training all designed to lift us and take us to a different reality. Big themes of ‘Sharing’, ‘Dreams’ and ‘Togetherness’ punctuate the 2020 output, reminding us of the things that really matter at Christmas and have regularly been denied us through 2020.”
RELATED: Christmas ads for 2020 remain creative even during a pandemic
A “mixed-bag” as Faircloth put it, Fox echoed that the year 2020 “has taught brands to look more at consumer’s lives, to look at culture and not just be driven by creating brand messages in a vacuum, but more brand messages that connect with current audience’s mindset on a deeper lever.”
Fox added that works such as Tesco’s No Naughty List “have got it just right, capturing 2020 with brilliant relatable moments and putting a positive spin on current times, to bring a well-needed smile.”
She added that through emotive and relatable narratives, “storytelling has stepped up a gear, certainly with narratives that have made us think about what’s important amidst Covid.”
“The main outlier seems to be Sainsbury’s,” chimed Faircloth. “Their continued use of verité-style footage makes the storytelling feel authentic, warm and intimate, but perhaps a little too close to home for our 2020 mind-set.”
Christmas in 2020, it seems, in context of the disruption it has caused in the global scale, bears more weight than other equally celebrated holidays. Faircloth says, “If anything, this year will be an even more significant moment of contemplation. There won’t be many who haven’t experienced a tough year, so brands are perfectly placed to align themselves with the same sensibilities as their customers.”
The same thought was echoed by Fox who said that, “More than anything, I’ve noticed in the briefs it is more about how brands can help support their customers during this time. I think clients have looked at this as a way to connect with their audience on a deeper level and drive advocacy”
To tie the interview altogether, the two shared the works that they always come back to. For Fox, she chose two spots that are “bold, funny and very relatable, both had brilliant cut-through and still would if ran today”
Faircloth, on his part, expressed that the greatest Christmas work of all time remains Tommy Hilfiger’s Christmas Season spots. “Utterly joyful aspiration,” he described.
Another one that made it into his books is a dated ad by Yellow Pages, “Not exactly acting as an ongoing inspiration, but one that I’d regard as: charming, warm, Christmassy and bang-on an excellent strategy, and from a brand famous for wonderful comms.”
