5 Christmas Ads Examples and Ideas For 2024

Christmas is a wonderful time for all, but it can be quite stressful for those working on the year's marketing campaigns. The holiday season is a great time for ecommerce growth, so an awesome ad campaign will not only create hype, but encourage Christmas shopping, too!

Let's get a headstart on your Christmas campaigns: our guide will show you how the key elements behind great ads, along with some great Christmas advertising examples and go-to advice.

How to Build a Perfect Christmas Ads: Important Tips

First, what defines a Christmas campaign? Unlike other holidays, Christmas is defined by cherished moments, family values, gift giving and more, which you can incorporate into your ads in a number of ways:

• A festive spirit! As you'll see in the following examples, the best Christmas marketing ideas still very much tie into the recognizable holiday season.
• Tell a story. Christmas advertisements tie themselves to a narrative element. It could be the Christmas story, the story of a family trying to get eady for the holiday season, or something else. Give consumers a narrative they can empathize and connect with.
• Keep the characters simple. Whether its an e-commerce ad, a social media post or something more direct, you only have a little time to make an impression. Therefore, keep your characters simple and easy to understand.
• Have a message. Ultimately, you need to convey a message. How does your product or company connect to the Christmas season? How can you help customers spread holiday cheer? Find a way to connect your brand to the season, and you'll have a great.
• Have a strategy. While a truly creative Christmas marketing strategy knows which channels to promote on and how to rock social media, also don't forget about traditional day-to-day methods. Email campaigns still work, and you should definitely update your website's homepage and product pages to keep them in line with the theme - and our product feed management software can help you do that.

Alongside this, you can also consider promotional aspects as well. If free shipping, Christmas bundles and benefits are available, consider adding them to your campaign. It's a great time to generate customer loyalty, so don't hold back on Christmas promo ideas.

Which Christmas Adverts Focus Attention?

What are the most memorable Christmas marketing ideas? We've shared a few inspirations further down, but there are a few things even the most creative Christmas ads have in common:

• Thematic. Christmas ads lean heavily into the festive season and the imagery that Christmas offers. That's not a coincidence.
• Positivity. The best ads tend to be uplifting. They offer a merry Christmas, or help people in need.
• A simple message. The story of each great ad comes across very easily. Whether it's a written slogan or a story that's understandable in a few seconds, it doesn't pay to confuse people.

Who Can Benefit From Christmas Shopping Ads?

Before we move on to some great Christmas marketing campaigns from successful companies, let's also consider what kind of business should be looking into their Christmas ad initiatives.

These days, Christmas is a huge business and gifts can come in many non-traditional formats. You never know what could make the perfect Christmas gift. Since people are in the shopping spirits, it's an ideal time for ecommerce stores to appeal through creative Christmas marketing.

With social media, email campaigns and more at your fingertips, there are a range of channels to communicate with your audience.

5 Examples for Creative Christmas Ads

Let's jump in and look at some of the most inspiring Christmas marketing ideas from leading brands. These are the ads that you never forget, even years later, which truly shows their creative impact.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has one of the best holiday marketing campaigns around, even though it isn't directly tied to Christmas shopping. Their festive-heavy imagery, whether it's the classic video ad, or their social media full of polar bears, Santa Claus or other Christmas imagery, are simply iconic. They connect the Christmas spirit directly to their brand, making a connection with the consumers.

Budweiser's "Wise Men Don't Drink and Drive"

Aside from a play on the "wise men" aspect of Christmas, Budweiser's 2016 campaign focused on delivering a clear message: don't drink and drive. Instead of pushing for more sales, the company invited customers to be careful. Their social media campaigns and clear imagery made a strong point, but also created a direct and personal connection with their fans.

Aldi's Kevin the Carrot

If you're in the UK, Aldi's Kevin the Carrot is instantly recognizable. The ads tell humorous stories that not only tie the holiday spirit, but capture the imagination of children and play into the family aspects of a supermarket. With a seasonal mascot established, it's easy for Kevin to appear across social media and anywhere else he's needed!

Marks & Spencer's "Thismas, not Thatmas"

Another British ad campaign, 2023's "Thismas" campaign saw various celebrities challenge Christmas traditions. Images included destroying Christmas crackers or Christmas cards. The entire campaign, across TV, social media and their ecommerce store, encouraged users to spend Christmas day their own way. Whilst it eschewed many traditions, it still subtly encourages gift giving and many of the brand's values.

Target's "However You Holiday, Do It For Less”

In 2023, US big box chain Target promoted a simple message: value. Through festive imagery, connecting the brand's existing red with Christmas trees, Christmas bells and all things festive, their various ads connected their superstore and ecommerce operations with their ability to cater to a wide range of needs. Simple, but memorable.

When Should You Run a Christmas Campaign?

The answer here is simple: when do your target customer start planing their Christmas gifts? Generally Christmas shopping hype starts in November. Early planners start buying right away, but starting your Christmas marketing campaign here will give you more time to make an impression on those last-minute shoppers, too!

You can also start earlier, such as in October, but bear in mind this conflicts with not only Halloween, but also key shopping periods such as Cyber Monday and Black Friday: if your products are in these areas, and especially in the ecommerce sector, it might be worth waiting until November.

Tools To Support The Development Of Christmas Creative Ads This Holiday Season

Now that you've got a grasp of vital ad features and themes, it's time to turn your Christmas marketing campaign ideas into reality. For that, there are a few great go-to tools that can keep you merry and stress free this festive season.

Photo editing software

The best way to sell products is to show them. Along with some good set dressings, youc an use photo editing or ads design software to add a little touch of Christmas to your marketing campaigns. Tweak your images, add new backgrounds, and experiment to find the warm feeling you're after.

Campaign Management Tool

The best Christmas ads don't just repeat themselves endlessly. They use long and short forms, as well as variations for social media platforms and channels. Using a campaign management tool can help you effortlessly plan all of this ahead of time.

Responsive & Dynamic Ad Software

To ensure your well developed Christmas marketing campaigns go off without a hitch, we recommend using dynamic ad templates. Cropink handles changes in ratios, whilst also adapting to your creative copy and other inputs. What's more, we can offer a range of dedicated product ad templates that are fully responsive and help you get your Christmas ad ideas out there!

Kickstart Your Christmas Marketing Campaign

Cropik's powerful tools will help you make short work of any Christmas marketing challenges. However, as we've shown, a strong Christmas spirit and creative angle will certainly help make your brand memorable this Christmas season!

We hope the above examples have started inspiring your own Christmas marketing ideas, and we can't wait to see what great campaigns are launched this Christmas time!