Tesco embraces episodic storytelling and the magic of a ‘perfectly imperfect’ Christmas

Tesco is leaning into what makes Christmas “perfectly imperfect” for its festive campaign, amid a wider industry shift away from a focus on product and towards storytelling.

This year’s campaign, ‘That’s What Makes It Christmas’, features a series of shorter ads that leans into what Christmas spirit means to people and how Tesco “shows up” for its customers.

The 11 short films, made in 10-, 20- and 30-second formats, detail funny and relatable moments between family and friends. One highlights a family berating their son for returning back home up north with a southern accent, another shows an awkward silence at the dinner table after an opinionated discussion, and another details the struggle of getting the kids to sit down for a family Christmas photo.

The videos play against a rerecorded version of Holly Jolly Christmas, each ending with comedian John Bishop saying “that’s what makes it Christmas”. The campaign launches today (12 November) on social and via mail to Clubcard members, airing on TV later in the day.

Though the advert marks a shift from last year’s nostalgic and emotive gingerbread-based ad, Murray Bisschop, UK marketing director at Tesco, says it’s still rooted in the brand’s “strategic platform” for the holidays which is based around the “Christmas spirit”.

Research with its customer base informed Tesco’s approach.

“What we took inspiration from largely was our customers and hearing from them as to what they do, and what makes Christmas special for them,” he says. “The more we spoke to them, the more we realised that Christmas wasn’t necessarily the contrived moments, and that the real joy, the real warmth, the real memories were in the little moments of imperfection that actually, when you ask them, are perfect.”

Whittling down the number of relatable moments to form just 11 was one of the biggest challenges for the team.

“We’ve used our customers as our guide. We’ve tested quite extensively a broad range of copy, and we’re using the ones that we think, as a suite, is collectively the most relatable, the warmest, and the best embodiment of a perfectly imperfect Christmas,” says the marketer.

A campaign, not an ad

After talking with its creative agency BBH London in the beginning stages, with campaign ideation beginning in January, the team realised this “maybe isn’t an ad” but “truly a campaign” – a train of thought that Bisschop says “grew and grew”.

“It lends itself to playing it through the season in a real campaign as opposed to an ad,” says the marketer, who adds that the smaller cut downs also give customers “a real feel of all these moments”.

“When you put the art and the science together, you get to a clear conclusion that this is the right way to make an idea like this,” he claims.

The campaign will be run across all channels, including buses wrapped in paper that has ‘run out’, a Metro cover wrap bingo card and decorated petrol pumps, as well as out-of-home with humorous ‘That’s What Makes It Christmas’ moments. Although it is based on shorter-form video, TV will still be used “quite hard”, with Bisschop reaffirming that it has a key place in the Christmas marketing mix despite the rise of short-form challengers.

“It’s still a very high reach channel where you can get high engagement with a medium that allows you to tell a story,” he says.

We’ve tested quite extensively a broad range of copy, and we’re using the ones that we think, as a suite, is collectively the most relatable.

Murray Bisschop, Tesco

Last year, integrating Clubcard data was a key part of Tesco’s approach to forming the Christmas marketing mix, as it looked to offer a “personalised” campaign.

This year, Bisschop reiterates that Clubcard data informs “a lot” of the brand’s media planning, to serve audiences “what’s most appropriate” at the “most relatable” time, and also “try and anticipate customers’ needs and serve up to them”.

Earlier this year, Tesco’s managing director for customer, Becky Brock, called Clubcard “the fuel that powers Tesco”, as the scheme celebrated its 30th birthday.

In terms of the Christmas campaign, the Clubcard data also gives the grocer an understanding of when people are buying certain products.

Tesco is releasing more product-focused films in the run-up to Christmas, with Bisschop claiming the upcoming LHF regulations didn’t specifically impact the retailer’s approach to Christmas, though it “supports the regulations” and aims to be “fully compliant”.

As well as food, F&F Clothing is being spotlighted, as Tesco releases a range of three jumpers, featuring the phrases, ‘yes, I’m still single’, ‘yes, I’m still vegan’ and ‘yes I was forced to wear this’, to respond to common questions asked at Christmas gatherings.

Bisschop says these jumpers play into the plan to make Christmas “unmissable” in stores. This also contributes to Tesco trying to “integrate F&F as much as possible in a way that is natural and relevant” for customers over Christmas.

More generally, stores will be transformed to have a “festive atmosphere”, with Tesco bringing back its Santa’s Grottos in-store.

Building upon a successful year

Tesco will also run a partnership with Gogglebox as part of its strategy to “give real amplification to the campaign at key moments”, with Bisschop calling it a “relatable programme” and a “good strategic fit”.

Tesco’s Christmas efforts are building upon the strong year the brand has seen so far. In its interim results last month, its market share rose 77 basis points (bps) year on year to 28.4%, with the supermarket having gained share for 28 consecutive weeks.

Overall, brand perception rose 96bps year on year, with satisfaction up 263bps, value up 89bps and quality up 13bps – metrics Tesco claims were “outperforming the competitor average” on all six YouGov measures.

In January, Tesco’s CEO Ken Murphy said 2024 was the retailer’s “biggest ever Christmas”, as the supermarket saw its highest market share since 2016, which it put down to an increased investment in value, quality and service.

This year, Bisschop hopes the campaign will contribute to a repeat of this, and he will be measuring success and effectiveness through looking at customers’ “end to end” experience with Tesco.

Lessons will also be taken from the campaign around the success of shorter-form video approaches to campaigns.

“If this has worked well, if we see that it’s given us a step change, then of course we’ll consider it going forward,” says the marketer. Yet he still sees longer-form video as important to the marketing mix, and claims the selection of the video approach should be determined on a campaign by campaign basis.