At Christmas, today’s advertising is under a microscope. In just a few short years, John Lewis’s annual offering has gone from being just another TV ad to an eagerly awaited national institution among both the general public and in media circles. Competition between the major retailers to cut through the noise and get their ad noticed is becoming more and more fierce.
Part of the difficulty when brands go head-to-head with their seasonal advertising is the challenge of producing a Christmas ad that doesn’t just blend in with all the others. In recent years, the musical soundtracks used in the ads has become increasingly important to the emotional impact (because, let’s face it, Christmas advertising has up until now been geared, for the most part, towards tugging on the heartstrings and appealing to viewers’ sentimentality around the season). And rightly so, according to a recently published Radiocentre report called Strike A Chord, which detailed the subtle and subliminal way in which music can trigger an emotional response.
This is one of the key reasons why TV advertising is still so successful – it’s audio-visual and music plays an often imperceptible but incredibly powerful role in the triggering of emotions. When employed cleverly, it can also have a spectacular impact on the memorability of ads – after all, one of the ads consistently voted people’s favourite to this day (despite its being released in 2007) is the Cadbury Dairy Milk Gorilla campaign, which featured the opening section of Phil Collins’s In The Air Tonight.
A good soundtrack can really help brands stand out at Christmas too. This year the House of Fraser ad by creative agency 18 Feet & Rising is a distinct departure from the swath of other, more Christmassy ads out there this year. The spot features the track You Don’t Own Me, Grace (feat G-Eaz)’s cover of the 1963 Lesley Gore song, accompanied by edgy choreography and a stark, white studio background – a world away from the luxurious, decadently festooned interiors often seen in other retailers’ ads.
Picking a potentially popular song pays off too. Engagement with ads is elevated through the use of music, with technology now meaning that using apps such as Shazam enable music to be a gateway to get audiences to interact with advertising. In the days since the ad was released, You Don’t Own Me has reached number one in the Shazam Chart along with several other Christmas ad songs – including Aurora’s cover of Half The World Away by Oasis in the John Lewis ad, Wait by M83 in the Bose ad and Sax by Fleur East in Asda’s ad.
With this in mind, here are my top soundtracks to the Christmas ads this year:
1. House of Fraser: Grace – You Don’t Own Me (feat G-Eazy)
This is my favourite so far – it cuts through the ad break like nothing else. It’s irreverent, witty and makes you want to reappraise the brand. Using a soundtrack that strays away from the usual Christmas jingles and bringing choreography and fashion to the ad is a smart move – while seamlessly showcasing products at the same time.
2. Asda: Fleur East – Sax
This has been one of the most Shazamed of all the Christmas ad soundtracks – pointing towards the fact that the charts are being shaped by the music we see used in ads, rather than the other way round. What a great way to debut a new artist and bring a bit of popular culture to an unexpected brand.
3. John Lewis: Aurora - Half The World Away (Oasis cover)
Breathy, sweet-sounding acoustic covers of classic songs have become a staple of the Christmas ad in recent years and, although this song choice is a touch too predictable for me, it works very well for the intended audience. I’m not sure too many hardcore Oasis fans would agree with me, but it’s hard to argue against something that’s so on-brand for John Lewis at this time of year.
4. M&S Food: Clean Bandit – Rather Be (feat Jess Glynne)
M&S’s now-trademark (and much parodied) food porn meets a good track – it’s simple but effective, although I don’t think this is quite as good as some previous M&S spots. The brand has, in the past, been a bit more daring with its song choices, which I preferred. For example, the inspired use of Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross.
5. Halfords: Cairobi – Zoraide
Indie rock is a fairly unorthodox route for a Christmas ad, but it fits very well with the footage. This ad was a real trip down memory lane and the song captured that nostalgic feeling perfectly for me, and I’m sure that it will have had the same effect on much of Halford’s intended audience.
Guy Bradbury is the founding partner and executive creative director at Atomic London
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