If there’s one thing I love about the run-up to Christmas. aside from raiding the advent calendar before breakfast, it’s the annual parade of festive adverts. Big brands roll out big budgets, big emotions, and sometimes very big carrots.

This year, I joined a CIM webinar with brand experts Max Stricker and Mark Newton, who dove into five of the biggest Christmas ads of 2025 and pulled out the practical marketing lessons behind them.

And honestly? There were some absolute gems in there that every business, big, small, B2B, B2C, and everyone in between, can put to work.

Here’s my Marketing Doris spin on what we can all take away.

Distinctive Assets Make or Break Your Ad

If there was one theme that appeared again (and again), it was this:

Customers need to instantly know your ad is yours. Barbour teamed up with Wallace & Gromit, a collab so wholesome it could soften even the grumpiest Grinch, but as Max pointed out, the story spotlight ended up landing more on the characters than the brand. Lovely? Yes. Effective? Hmm.

Meanwhile, Aldi continued its masterclass with Kevin the Carrot. Ten years in and we still know instantly that orange little fella = Aldi. They’ve built a world, and viewers happily jump straight into it before the ad even really starts.

Takeaway for businesses: You don’t need a Hollywood budget. But you do need consistency; colours, characters, tone, style, shapes, jingles… whatever is uniquely you. Use it everywhere, repeatedly, until customers can spot you a mile away (in a good way).

 

Emotional Storytelling Works — But Only If it’s Simple

Burberry’s cinematic Christmas house party? Beautiful. Stylish. Star-studded. And also… confusing.

Too many celebrities, too many visual metaphors, too many “what am I meant to be looking at right now?” moments.

Our brains don’t want to work that hard. Especially when we’re trying to decide whether to buy a scarf.

Heathrow, on the other hand, nailed emotional storytelling with their little bears, tapping into nostalgia and shared Christmas experiences, but keeping the message crystal clear.

Takeaway: Emotion is powerful, but clarity is everything.   If your viewer can’t retell your ad’s story in one sentence, it’s too complicated.

Characters Can Carry Your Brand Further Than You Think

Heathrow’s bears. Aldi’s carrot. Compare the Market’s meerkats.

The power of characters is that they don’t age, get cancelled, or switch to a competing brand. They can turn even a stressful airport experience into something warm and fuzzy (quite literally).

And because characters are distinctive assets, over time they become mental shortcuts straight to your brand.

Takeaway: If you find a character that works, even if it seems left-field, don’t be afraid to commit.  You’re building familiarity, trust, and recognition every time they show up.

 

Marketers Get Bored Long Before Customers Do

Here’s the hard truth: Your audience isn’t analysing your ads like you are.

They’re not watching your campaign 27 times in a row wondering if the font feels “a bit 2022”.

Which is why Amazon simply reused their Joyride ad again this year, and it still worked beautifully.  Most ads don’t “wear out”.  They just haven’t reached enough people yet.

Takeaway: Don’t reinvent the wheel every five minutes. If something works, squeeze every drop of value from it.  Re-run it, repurpose it, refresh it slightly, but don’t bin it just because you’ve seen it too often.

 

Christmas Isn’t Automatically the Right Time to Advertise

This one made me quietly clap at my laptop:

Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean your brand needs a Christmas ad.

For some businesses (hello supermarkets), it’s a category entry point.  For others, it’s a wildly expensive time to shout into the noise.  As Max highlighted, many smaller brands would get far more return by spreading their budget across quieter months, where attention is cheaper and people are actually listening.

Takeaway: Ask: Is Christmas genuinely when customers are making decisions about our product?  If not, put your budget somewhere smarter. (Probably not December.)

 

The Best Ads Reflect Real Life

Whether it’s:

• falling asleep on the sofa after lunch
• sticking a luggage tag on sideways for the fourth time
• wrapping presents on the stairs 20 minutes before guests arrive
• or remembering the thrill of childhood snow days
• …the festive ads that stick are the ones rooted in moments we recognise.

Takeaway: Authenticity isn’t a buzzword, it’s a strategy.  If your audience sees themselves in your story, you’ve won.

 

So… what does all this mean for your marketing?

You don’t need a multi-million Christmas production to learn from the brands that do.  Here’s your quick cheat sheet:

• Be consistent – build and repeat your distinctive assets
• Keep the message simple – if it’s confusing, it’s losing
• Use emotion wisely – but don’t make viewers work for it
• Stick with what works – you’re bored long before your audience is
• Tell a story people recognise – real moments > glossy perfection
• Only advertise at Christmas if it actually makes sense

And if you want help making your brand’s storytelling clear, compelling, and customer-friendly, festive season or not, you know where I am.

Happy advertising, happy analysing… and happy Christmas when we get there.

.. and yes, I’ll absolutely be eating my bodyweight in mince pies while reviewing next year’s adverts too!