Blue Monday: Festive advertising revenues give more reason to celebrate

For now, the more creative examples look a smart business investment

A 5.1% rise in sales for John Lewis over the Christmas period has been attributed to the success of their 'Man on the Moon' television advert

17 January has been branded ‘Blue Monday’, the day consumers supposedly count the cost of their lavish spending during the festive period. Retailers have also been counting the cost of their Christmas advertising and PR spending, to more uplifting effect.

Last week most of Britain’s retailers announced their trading figures for the crucial trading period leading up to Christmas. But whereas Marks & Spencer, which had scaled back its festive campaign this time, had reported a drop in sales and the exit of its CEO, most of those retailers with ambitious campaigns appeared to benefit.

When Sainsbury’s announced its figures on 13 January, the company attributed better than expected sales to the ‘huge success’ of the Mog Christmas Calamity campaign, created by AMV BBDO, which generated 37 million online views in addition to all the bought media space and PR – a rare corporate vote of confidence in a promotional effort.

There was more good news for London’s marketing community when John Lewis revealed a 5.1 per cent leap in sales for Christmas 2015. This was even better than the store, or indeed its award-winning creative agency Adam&Eve/DDB had been expecting. Two years ago John Lewis estimated that every pound it spent on advertising generated £5 in profit. And the investment still seems to be paying off, with the latest incarnation of its ‘stories of thoughtful giving’ approach featuring the ‘Man on the Moon’. The £7m campaign had generated 23 million views on YouTube alone, within a month of being launched.

But last week’s results also showed some other smart marketers getting in the act. German challenger supermarket Aldi had clearly watched John Lewis with interest and cleverly capitalised with a parody of the ‘Man on the Moon’ film, featuring a man looking through two telescopes; one at premium high street prices, the other its own discount version. This film, created by McCann Manchester, was viewed more than two million times on YouTube. And Aldi saw 11.5 per cent uplift in sales in the four weeks to 4 January.

All these campaigns were launched to some scepticism last November, but for now anyway, the more creative examples look a smart business investment.