Did you know that 8% of UK consumers started their Christmas shopping in the January sales?
In our team, Christmas is almost always on our mind, as we move from reporting on the success of Christmas campaigns in January to thinking about letters to Santa in March or testing Christmas menus in August. So it was no surprise to us that some people are very early planners.
But more than for any other purchase occasion, it is also clear to us, from all the work we have done around Christmas over the years, that there is no one way to shop at Christmas.
And as 56% expect to be watching the pennies this Christmas and to shop around more, knowing when to start your Christmas campaign, what messages to push and how to activate across channels is more complicated than ever.
For example:
- Do you know who to talk to? Who makes the purchase decision in your category?
- Do you know when to start in-season messaging? And how to influence those early considerations and extend the purchase season
- Do you know which touchpoints to invest in? And how to reach different audiences at the most influential time?
- Do you know what decision drivers to leverage? And how to best include them in your campaign?
- Can you translate it all into a global and local in-season plan? And make sure all stakeholders are singing from the same hymn sheet?