7 Masterclass Tips from Christmas Campaigns

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Every Christmas, the world’s top brands put their best foot forward to cheer and engage people with their marketing. This year is no different.?

This trend creates a great learning opportunity for people building audiences. (aka us).

Some ads keep popping up on my YouTube so I wondered… Why not do a case study on 2021’s best Christmas marketing campaigns to help y’all level up your marketing game. ??

So here we go:

1. Value what your audience values to build an instant connection with them

Budweiser's Pupweiser Campaign elegantly combines Christmas vibes with celebrating our 4-legged companions and everyone is lovin’ it!?

The brand has pledged to donate $1 for every entry upto $25,000 to a non-profit dedicated to preventing animal cruelty.?

Takeaway: What does your audience care about? Can you entwine that with your content??

2. Empower people by empowering their dreams

Etsy’s “Give more than a gift” campaign is all about supporting small creators by gifting one-of-a-kind, custom made items.?

Takeaway: Think about how you can empower your audience? Could you give them a shoutout via your content? Or do giveaways?

I've been loving the “Promote your product/service/content” posts that allow people to share what they do and get more visibility. A great way to discover good stuff too!?

3. Delight, Delight, Delight

Chase Freedom Unlimited created a hilarious Home Alone inspired ad with Home Alone star Catherine O’Hara looking for her once again lost son Kevin… Only this time it isn’t the Kevin we expected. It’s our favorite comedy guy: Mr. Kevin Hart. ??

This ad legit made me laugh till my stomach hurt.?

Takeaway: Have fun with your content. Making someone smile is legit the best marketing you can ever do!?

Memes, GIPHYS, your personal pranking stories and funny incidents are the way to go.?

4. Tap into memories?

No one does consumer-centric marketing better than Starbucks.?

The coffee giant has yet again brewed another masterpiece festive campaign idea by combining holiday traditions with the favorite drinks of their customers.??

Takeaway: In marketing, relatability is key. Storytelling is the ultimate hack to being relatable.?

Start sharing stories and personal anecdotes and concocting them with your content ideas. Instead of saying, “Here are 3 ways to do X” say, “Here are 3 ways to do X that have helped me achieve Y when I was struggling with Z”.?

Find a common “ground” for you and your audience. ??

5. Spread an important message that everyone needs to hear?

Diageo, maker of Guinness, Johnnie Walker, and Baileys launched a new responsible drinking global campaign “Know When to Stop,” aiming to make people stop and think about overindulgence.?

Definitely not a marketing gimmick but a great campaign highlighting what needs to be highlighted.?

(Watch video here)

Takeaway: As a personal or a company brand, you have the power to spread a good message. If everyone does their teeny-tiny bit, imagine how much better our tomorrow will be.?

Question for you: What’s an important message that you want everyone to care about? And what’s the most creative way to spread the word??

6. Make your audience the center of attention

Pizza Hut just launched their exclusive Christmas merch. The best part? They made something for everyone in the family (even the tree ??).?

Takeaway: Every piece of content that I write, I imagine an imaginary persona that I am writing to. I ask myself, “Will this person feel valued when they read this?”, “Will it make them feel cared for?”?

Give your audience something no one else is giving. ??

7. Lift Up Others?

The Big Issue, UK’s top social awareness newspaper found a very creative way of uplifting the homeless and making more people aware about the seriousness of the issue.?

They highlighted the stark difference between the luxury wishes people make vs the reality of what street side vendors wish.?

Takeaway: This campaign is an important reminder of how powerful marketing can be when leveraged to make positive change.?

I urge you to think about how you can give back to the community and play your part in uplifting people.?

You could collaborate with other creators, or you could inspire your audience to contribute to a cause that will help people.?

??RIFF OF THE DAY

Here’s ?? a cool tool for you to repurpose your tweets for other channel. Here’s what mine look like:

Thanks for reading! I try hard to make it a newsletter you look forward to each week, so if you have any suggestions about content you’d like to see or ideas that sparked, let me know.

Stay outta’ trouble and catch you next week.

??? Joel

Wanna learn more about building your voice online? Check out my 2022 Spring Cohort Class.

You can also learn more about my work on my Website, Twitter or LinkedIn.