The blog

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: the Christmas spirit is back in town! With it comes a continuous stream of Christmas campaigns that you’re faced with in the streets, on your phone, on the radio - you name it.    So how ‘big’ are these Christmas campaigns? According to eMarketer, the total holiday retail spending in 2018 rose with 5.4% compared to the year before, reaching a whopping €895,74 billion. Although American initiatives like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are rapidly gaining ground at this side of the Atlantic, many companies still consider their Christmas campaign to be the most important commercialized fest of the year.  Whether you’re hunting for campaigns to benchmark your own, seeking inspiration to outdo this year’s idea in 2020 or just looking for a reason to smile, we’re sharing the elements of a successful Christmas marketing campaign based on 5 examples launched in 2019. #1. Sky Telecom brings E.T. back to life  After three decades, Sky Telecom brings world-famous alien E.T. back on stage in their 2019 Christmas campaign. Their video ad starts off with E.T. meeting Elliot (played by original cast member Henry Thomas)’s two screaming children. The clip is a nostalgic sight for fans of the classic blockbuster. In the video, Elliot’s family spends time with E.T. while demonstrating Sky’s different technology tools. Even though E.T. enjoys his time with his old friend, he starts missing his family, who’s far away from him. The main message of the story is to reconnect with your family. As a solution, Sky offers special deals to facilitate the connection with those far away from you.  The ads were released on Sky’s social media channels and appeared on their TV channel. #2. Red Cross launches “Choose me” campaign The Belgian Red Cross’ end-of-year campaign is called “Choose me”. It is aimed at consumers who don’t usually give to charity, for example due to lack of time. From December 15th until January 15th, you can buy products marked with the “Choose me” label - they’re distributed by retail partners like Coca-Cola, JBC, Starbucks and Lipton. Part of the proceeds of those items go to the Belgian Red Cross. The initiative lowers the threshold for the average customer to support a good cause in a very simple, accessible way.  #3. For Jumbo, it’s all about being together  Christmas is all about being together with family and friends during the holidays. This year, Jumbo launched a Christmas campaign in which they wanted to bring this message loud and clear. The result: a classic-feel good movie with a humorous touch. The video represents an ordinary Dutch family, of whom the mother leaves on a business trip. While she’s looking forward to her me-time, her husband struggles with the Christmas preparations. In the end, he succeeds thanks to the help of his children (and Jumbo) - while the mother regrets being away from their family. The video has a happy end: the entire family enjoys Christmas together. Jumbo's Christmas movie appeared on their YouTube channel and TV. They offered inspiration to their customers through recipes, tips and ideas in their shops, magazines, website and on their social media channels. In addition, they organized tastings to help their customers to set up their own Christmas menu.   #4. John Lewis & Waitrose teaming up for the holidays This year, department store John Lewis & Partners launched their first joint Christmas advertising with supermarket chain Waitrose & Partners.  The short film is about the heartwarming friendship between the excitable dragon Edgar and a young little girl Ava, who gives him a thoughtful present to show how much she cares about him. The core message of the story is that a thoughtful gesture is worth cherishing; show your loved ones how much you care about them by making them feel special.  To leverage their Christmas story, John Lewis & Waitrose released a range of merchandise linked to the ad - from children’s pajamas to cuddly toys and gingerbread biscuits. In addition, they partnered with Snapchat to create a special filter (Excitable Edgar) and Twitter to design an emoji inspired by the enthusiastic dragon.  #5. Local hardware shop in Wales goes viral A local UK hardware shop, Hafod Hardware, went viral thanks to an advertising campaign that cost merely £100. Their video features young boy Arthur, the son of the shop owner, and offers a peek into the day-to-day tasks at Hafod Hardware. The piece, which ended with the tagline “Be a Kid This Christmas” encouraged viewers to shop locally. A highly relevant message nowadays, proven by the recently elected word of the year 2019: “winkelhieren”.   The magical recipe doesn't exist Although there might not be a magical recipe, these elements can help you to build a strong Christmas campaign:  Translate your message into a story, preferably one with a human aspect - all of the abovementioned brands did this brilliantly. Jumbo, for example, clearly applied the storytelling framework: the main characters (mother/father) encounter problems (feeling alone/struggling with the Christmas prep); Jumbo then appears as a guide towards the successful solution (spending time together/cooking a delicious meal). Try to incorporate recognizable elements: it’s easier for your customers to relate to your offering when they’re faced with a situation they’ve already witnessed or are familiar with.  Trigger emotions: whether it’s nostalgia, humor, happiness, sadness, guilt, ... Emotions are a powerful tool: they make your message stick. You can use a multi-layered emotional approach instead of merely playing on one; this raises the chance of your customers identifying with at least one of them.  Use a multi-channel approach: share your message on as many channels as possible. Reformat your content: for example, create a short video of your orginal long one, or reuse your video content in a blog post. Dedicated campaign hashtags have become a common practice to gather all shared content, but John Waitrose & Waitrose took things one step further by designing an emoji and Snapchat filter.  Partner with other brands or influencers with a broad network or fanbase: they help you to share your message to a wider audience. For example, the Red Cross teamed up with 4 world-famous brands; John Lewis and Waitrose extended their collaboration to a popular music band.  And of course… a bit of luck will also help! Need help to bring your digital marketing campaigns to the next level? Reach out!

It won’t be news to you that Voice Technology is booming now. The availability of voice assistants on more than 1 billion devices (e.g. smart speakers, smartphones, cars, hearables, etc.) is allowing this innovation to grow at a frenzied pace.

There's no escaping the frenzy: Black Friday is all over the place. From your mailbox to your social media feed, from advertisements on Spotify to promotions on Waze on your way to work – the promotional messages keep popping up. Most people, however, don’t even know what the tradition of Black Friday exactly stands for (watch the video below). So, we’re questioning whether we’re facing a phenomenon that is breaking out of its borders or if we’re just dealing with another sales label to justify early promotions. 

THoMer and Head of Marketing Automation Elly sat down with Tim Hennin, Global Consumer Marketing Manager at UNILIN, and Liesbet Meesschaert, Campaign Marketing Manager at Barco. During this 30 minute webinar session, they shared exclusive insights and personal experiences with Marketing Automation.  Watch the full recording of the webinar here:

On the 26th of May, we voted for the Belgian federal and the regional parliaments. 6 months later, we’re still waiting for a federal government, and it looks as if it will take a while before an agreement is reached on what the future of our country should look like.  Belgium is not the only country where the political landscape is experiencing turbulence, and where politicians are more concerned with honing their debating skills than with moving things forward and preparing our society for the challenges ahead. Just take the Brexit soap opera, the Catalonian question or the impeachment procedure against Donald Trump – not one day passes without news updates on at least one of these topics.   No wonder that the trust in governments is at its lowest ever ebb. Does this mean our democratic system needs to be overhauled? Maybe. But that’s not the point I want to make in this post. As a marketer, the question that I’m asking myself is: what is the impact that we, as marketers, can have? During his talk at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Richard Edelman stated that brand marketing and democracy have more in common than you might think.   In Belgium, federal elections take place every five years. This means a voter can express his or her opinion only twice per decade. It stands to reason therefore that, when it comes to the broader debate on issues like the environment or equality among people, a consumer’s weekly purchases make more of a difference than their vote every five years.  The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that 81% of the 16,000 respondents declare that a major consideration when purchasing a brand today is “I can trust the brand to do what is right”. This result equals the importance attached to usual product attributes like quality, value, convenience or ingredients.   Do brands pass this trust test? No. In the same research, just one in three respondents said that they trust most of the brands they buy and use. Only 21 percent of respondents know from personal experience that the brands they use keep the best interests of society in mind.  So where do we go from here? First of all, brands need to practise what they preach: show clear proof of your ethical behaviour instead of just communicating about it. Ethical behaviour goes beyond the production process of your product, it’s also about how you handle your consumers’ data and privacy or about using marketing automation in a responsible way.  Secondly, brands are still focusing too much on traditional advertising. Consumers are increasingly adept at avoiding advertising (ad blockers, skipping ads when watching video content, etc.). A 2019 survey shows that consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 have more faith in what an influencer says about a brand rather than what the brand itself says in its advertising.   Thirdly, as a brand, it’s better to appoint a spokesperson who is recognizable for your target group, in order to gain more trust: a ‘person like me’ or an expert inspires a great deal more trust than a celebrity.   There is no doubt that brands have every opportunity to make a difference in consumers’ lives and in the society they care about. To earn consumer trust, marketers must back up their brand promise with concrete actions. Consumers are aware that brands have the power to effect real change, and they will put their trust in brands that use that power on their behalf.   

Some weeks ago, I got the chance to join a group of entrepreneurs in the capital of Estonia: Tallinn. Let me guess your first reaction: an ex-soviet country somewhere in the Baltics, probably not listed as your top choice for a weekend getaway. Well that’s where you’d be wrong. Estonia has one of the highest rates of start-ups per capita in Europe and is often recognized as the most digitally advanced nation in the world. And, to top it all, it’s a pretty great city to visit: full of history, friendly people and a great gastronomic scene. Let me share some key takeaways of one week in Tallinn.

Mobiel internetgebruik neemt met rasse schreden toe. En bijgevolg dus ook het belang van mobile marketing. Toch benutten veel adverteerders en creative agencies deze relatief nieuwe discipline nog te weinig, zegt Dennis De Cat, CEO van digitale business accelerator Upthrust (een spin-off van The House of Marketing). “Mediabureaus blijven halsstarrig denken dat mensen ’s avonds nog altijd achter hun desktop zitten.” Dat kan volgens hem dus veel beter. Hij stelt ons daarom de vijf belangrijkste trends in mobile marketing voor, als leidraad voor de mobiele toekomst.

Kill fast, scale faster. That's the motto of THoMers and digital experts Anh Khoa and Stefan, who hosted a webinar on Growth Marketing.

Mobile marketing is de toekomst, niemand die daar nog aan twijfelt. Het aantal mensen dat voornamelijk op mobiel surft en streamt, blijft spectaculair toenemen. Maar dat is niet de enige reden, zegt Dennis Peeters van The House of Marketing: “Bepaalde technologieën worden steeds toegankelijker. Volgens ons gaan ze dan ook een grote invloed hebben op de mobiele marketing van morgen.”

Once upon a time, I was probably the most firmly rooted marketer you could find in Belgium. For the first 12 years of my career, I climbed the ladder from Junior Brand Manager for Fristi and Nutroma to Marketing Manager for the value brands portfolio and OOH with Friesland Campina, handling projects in different countries in Europe.