But, this may be the last year that we see an official Christmas ad or advert from John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, and a host of other retailers in the UK. Well, the YouTube version of “John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 – #BusterTheBoxer” had a V7 of 16.7 million views and an ER7 of 0.4x. But, what about Facebook versions of these Christmas ads? And the Facebook version of “John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015 – #ManOnTheMoon” had a V7 of 6.5 million views and an ER7 of 1.8x. “The Greatest Gift | Sainsbury’s Ad | Christmas 2016” had a V7 of 6.8 million views and an ER7 of 0.2x, and “Mog’s Christmas Calamity | Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Ad | Christmas 2015” had a V7 of 12.7 million views and an ER7 of 0.4x. If you use “views” as your yardstick, then you’re doing better than they are, but your Christmas ad this year isn’t doing as well as your Christmas advert did last year. Third, the video marketers at two of these UK retailers have already been experimenting with sponsored video campaigns. It has a V7 of 297,000 views and an ER7 of 1.2x.” Meanwhile, John Lewis has used 2 partners on Facebook and 2 on YouTube to create and upload 5 sponsored videos. Well, at least one retail brand in the US is on the cusp of crafting a complimentary sponsored video campaign. For example, how much did each retail brand spend creating and promoting this year’s official Christmas ad or advert?
In Great Britain, major brands in the retail space have created the relatively recent tradition of launching an official Christmas ad or advert in early November. Why? Well, the Brits don’t celebrate Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving, like the Yanks do. So, they can get a head start on driving shoppers into stores weeks before their American cousins try pushing consumers to shop ‘til they drop on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday. But, this may be the last year that we see an official Christmas ad or advert from John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, and a host of other retailers in the UK.
Why? Because I suspect that many retail brands will discover that sponsored video campaigns by influential content partners and publishers make the cash register ring far more often at a much lower cost than yet another expensive TV ad that’s repurposed and uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. And I’ll bet Santa’s cookies and milk that video marketers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the United States and Canada, as well as Australia and New Zealand will be watching this trend in the video marketing business very closely.
How Repurposed Christmas TV Ads Fare Online
Now, despite the intense emotions stirred by Christmas, the holiday has become an over-commercialized effort to sell stuff to people who will turn around and give it away for free to their family, actual friends (which is a much smaller list than their Facebook friends), and a random colleague (if they happen to be their Secret Santa at work). So, businesses on high street can’t be blamed if they take a cold, hard look at their Christmas campaigns to figure out of there is a better way to pack more packages underneath the Christmas tree. Hey, that’s why retail stores and shops don’t celebrate Festivus, for Pete’s sake. So, let’s examine the critical data that will drive their data-driven decisions about how to market Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers more cost-effectively in the future.
One of this year’s most anticipated Christmas ads was uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 9, 2017. Entitled, “John Lewis Christmas Ad 2017 – #MozTheMonster,” this version got 7.7 million views in its first 7 days (V7) and 0.6x engagements per view compared to a platform baseline (ER7).
How does this compare to last year’s campaign. Well, the YouTube version of “John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 – #BusterTheBoxer” had a V7 of 16.7 million views and an ER7 of 0.4x.
Now, that’s not a good trend, but two data points don’t mean that it’s the end of an era. So, let’s look at “John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015 – #ManOnTheMoon.” The YouTube version had a V7 of 12.3 million views and an ER7 of 0.4x.
So, the YouTube version of #MozTheMonster has gotten off to a worse start than #BusterTheBoxer or #ManOnTheMoon. But, what about Facebook versions of these Christmas ads?
“#MoxTheMonster” was uploaded to Facebook on Nov. 10, 2017. This version got 14.5 million views in its first 7 days (V7) and 0.9x engagements per view compared to a platform baseline (ER7). The Facebook version of “#BusterTheBoxer” had a V7 of 31.6 million views and an ER7 of 1.7x. And the Facebook version of “John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015 – #ManOnTheMoon” had a V7 of 6.5 million views and an ER7 of 1.8x. So, the Facebook version of #MozTheMonster has gotten off to a worse start than #BusterTheBoxer, but a better start than #ManOnTheMoon. Not good, but not bad, either. It’s worth noting that these two Christmas ads were promoted by a series of 11 tweets which include videos. Five of these include videos that are 2 minutes long. But, half of dozen include the @username of an influencer and a video that’s 5-seconds long. So, John Lewis was using a dash of influencer marketing to promote its Christmas ads this year.
The Battle of the Christmas TV Ads
Nevertheless, if you were one of the video marketers at John Lewis, then how would you interpret these mixed results? Well, if you were like me, you’d use Tubular Labs data to see how your competitors were doing. And you’d find that your biggest competitors were doing worse, much worse on YouTube.
For example, “Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Christmas Advert 2017 #everybitofChristmas” has a V7 of 1.7 million views and an ER7 of 0.3x.
“The Greatest Gift | Sainsbury’s Ad | Christmas 2016” had a V7 of 6.8 million views and an ER7 of 0.2x, and “Mog’s Christmas Calamity | Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Ad | Christmas 2015” had a V7 of 12.7 million views and an ER7 of 0.4x.
And you’d see a similar picture on Facebook. “We’ve crammed #everybitofChristmas into our ad this year. Fancy a sing-along?” has a V7 of 1.0 million views and an ER7 of 0.2x. “Introducing “The Greatest Gift”… Does that voice sound familiar? #ChristmasIsForSharing” had a V7 of 1.6 million views and an ER7 of 0.7x. And “Sainsbury’s OFFICIAL Christmas Advert 2015 – Mog’s Christmas Calamity! Watch our festive TV ad and see if Mog can save Christmas. #ChristmasIsForSharing” had a V7 of 6.9 million views and an ER7 of 1.6x.
In other words, this year’s Sainsbury’s official Christmas advert is getting fewer and fewer views on both YouTube and Facebook than the official Christmas adverts for the previous two years. It’s worth noting that these two Christmas ads were promoted by a series of 4 tweets which include videos. Two of these include videos that are 90 seconds long and two are 1 minute long.
And, how is Marks & Spencer doing? Well, on YouTube, “M&S Christmas TV Ad 2017 | Paddington & The Christmas Visitor #LoveTheBear” has a V7 of 3.1 million views and an ER7 of 0.3x.
That’s down from “M&S 2016 Christmas Ad: Christmas with love from Mrs Claus,” which had a V7 of 4.2 million views and an ER7 of 0.2x. But, it’s up from “M&S: CHRISTMAS TV AD 2015 – #TheArtOfChristmas,” which had a V7 of 1.8 million views and an ER7 of less than 0.1x.
Over on Facebook, “Paddington and the Christmas Visitor #LoveTheBear” has a V7 of 8.9 million views and an ER7 of 1.6x. That’s better than “Here’s to a wonderful Christmas filled with love. #LoveMrsClaus,” which had a V7 of 6.3 million…
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