Here are more NZ Christmas ads for 2020. There are a few running now, including some international ones, but most of them don’t seem to be available on YouTube, so I can’t share them. Still, there are a few more to share.
The ad up top is from Mitre 10, a New Zealand-owned chain of home improvement stores. Probably obviously, the ad is too long to air frequently, and I saw it for the first time tonight. The ad is a parody of Mitre 10’s series of videos called “DIY Easy As”. some of which are also edited into ads. The ad is exactly like such videos are done—matter of fact building—and the fact it makes fun of itself, down to using ordinary builders’ tools instead of kitchen appliances, and with a straight face, is such a Kiwi thing to do. So is making a pav (pavlova), the quintessential Kiwi dessert, especially at Christmas.
As a bonus, I’m including another, more traditional video on making a pav (at the bottom of this post) from NZ-listed retail chain Briscoes Homeware. It’s related to Christmas, but not an ad. Mainly, it’s just a more straightforward explanation of how to make a pav (but not the recipe).
Speaking of food, and ad for Countdown, the New Zealand operation of Australian supermarket company, Woolworths:
One of the reasons I like the ad, I have to admit, is that the opening reminds me of Rankin/Bass’ 1964 animated Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The ad itself has a lot of Christmas scenes, though I suspect that some of them were shot in Australia for Woolworth’s ads (I don’t know for sure because their ads aren’t shared online for some reason). At any rate, it’s a nice ad, especially for showing what Christmas in this part of the world is like.
Finally, an international ad currently running in New Zealand:
This version of the ad is longer than the one on New Zealand TV right now (and, it turns out, there’s a far, far longer version, too). Their YouTube Channel has different international ads, including this one intended for various markets, and I think that’s fascinating. Coca-Cola is an international brand, of course, and it makes sense to tailor ads to various countries, or to make then non-specific, as this one is. Still I did note that the pick-up truck appears to be North American (based on the license plate), and both trucks are left-hand drive. All in all, it’s a nice ad.
I wasn’t necessarily expecting to have any more Christmas ads to share this year, but Christmas is all about surprises, right? Surprise! Now, go make a pav.
Showing posts with label Christmas Ads 2020. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas Ads 2020. Show all posts
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Four New Zealand 2020 Christmas ads
Every year there are all sorts of TV ads for Christmas, and this year is no different—except this year is very different, of course. We’re extremely lucky in New Zealand that we’ll basically have a normal Christmas (assuming anything doesn’t go wrong, which could happen—it IS 2020, after all…). Here are four New Zealand TV ads new for this year.
The ad up top, “A Whiteware Christmas”, is the long version of an ad from a New Zealand retailer of whiteware and smaller electronic items. Smith City. The YouTube description sums up the ad: “Dom's got a big surprise for Kate this Christmas. See how it goes down, in our honest festive tale.” The storyline isn’t particularly new—mistaken assumptions are a staple of situation comedies. And it’s entirely possible some people may take offence at the depiction of the woman being offended for all women, even though one could argue that’s a very contemporary thing. For me, the reason this ad works is the quality of the acting, and that it just barely promotes what the retailer sells. When I first saw the ad, I thought it must be about something else entirely, maybe even one about family violence or something. The fact that the ad was so unusual is another thing about it that resonated with me.
An ad for New Zealand discount retail chain The Warehouse also takes a lower-key approach to selling:
This is a cute ad, and it also promotes the idea that small gifts can mean a lot—maybe even the most. The ad still promotes buying something from the store, though something small, but in a year in which many people are still shaken by the effects of the Covid lockdown (financial effects included), this is a particularly good message. The storyline isn’t particularly original, but maybe it’s all the more effective because it isn’t.
Next up, a bank that doesn’t want people to spend money:
This ad is the long version of an ad for New Zealand-based (Australian-owned) bank, BNZ, and I didn’t realise what it was about until the very end. It’s a bit like the ad up top in that the acting of the female lead is really good.
Finally, an ad for New World, a New Zealand-owned supermarket chain (one of two supermarket companies in New Zealand; the other is Australian-owned):
This ad is unique to 2020, which, as the ad’s narrator says at the beginning, has been “kinda weird”. The ad shows some of the ways it was weird, and then pivots to building on that experience because, as the ad says at the end, “one thing we all deserve this year is a cracking good Christmas.”
Indeed.
If this was a normal year, Christmas ads would be promoting buying stuff, and there’d be a lot of them. But, this is 2020: Everything’s different, and so far, this year's ads reflect that (last year's ads for NZ Post are also running this year, and fit right in).
We get a few international ads, and they try to sell stuff, as have a few New Zealand ads. These four stood out for me not just because they’re among the first that have begun airing (the one from The Warehouse was the first one I saw this year), but also because of they have a gentler approach to selling stuff than we typically see. Maybe there will be more TV ads as we get closer to Christmas.
In any case, the season has Christmas season has definitely begun, even a year that’s been “kinda weird”.
The ad up top, “A Whiteware Christmas”, is the long version of an ad from a New Zealand retailer of whiteware and smaller electronic items. Smith City. The YouTube description sums up the ad: “Dom's got a big surprise for Kate this Christmas. See how it goes down, in our honest festive tale.” The storyline isn’t particularly new—mistaken assumptions are a staple of situation comedies. And it’s entirely possible some people may take offence at the depiction of the woman being offended for all women, even though one could argue that’s a very contemporary thing. For me, the reason this ad works is the quality of the acting, and that it just barely promotes what the retailer sells. When I first saw the ad, I thought it must be about something else entirely, maybe even one about family violence or something. The fact that the ad was so unusual is another thing about it that resonated with me.
An ad for New Zealand discount retail chain The Warehouse also takes a lower-key approach to selling:
This is a cute ad, and it also promotes the idea that small gifts can mean a lot—maybe even the most. The ad still promotes buying something from the store, though something small, but in a year in which many people are still shaken by the effects of the Covid lockdown (financial effects included), this is a particularly good message. The storyline isn’t particularly original, but maybe it’s all the more effective because it isn’t.
Next up, a bank that doesn’t want people to spend money:
This ad is the long version of an ad for New Zealand-based (Australian-owned) bank, BNZ, and I didn’t realise what it was about until the very end. It’s a bit like the ad up top in that the acting of the female lead is really good.
Finally, an ad for New World, a New Zealand-owned supermarket chain (one of two supermarket companies in New Zealand; the other is Australian-owned):
This ad is unique to 2020, which, as the ad’s narrator says at the beginning, has been “kinda weird”. The ad shows some of the ways it was weird, and then pivots to building on that experience because, as the ad says at the end, “one thing we all deserve this year is a cracking good Christmas.”
Indeed.
If this was a normal year, Christmas ads would be promoting buying stuff, and there’d be a lot of them. But, this is 2020: Everything’s different, and so far, this year's ads reflect that (last year's ads for NZ Post are also running this year, and fit right in).
We get a few international ads, and they try to sell stuff, as have a few New Zealand ads. These four stood out for me not just because they’re among the first that have begun airing (the one from The Warehouse was the first one I saw this year), but also because of they have a gentler approach to selling stuff than we typically see. Maybe there will be more TV ads as we get closer to Christmas.
In any case, the season has Christmas season has definitely begun, even a year that’s been “kinda weird”.
Sunday, November 01, 2020
‘Tis the season – again
This morning I got two emails from companies I’ve ordered from in the past. They both promoted Christmas shopping, but the one at left was the top half of (and majority of) the email, while the one down below was at the bottom of their email (clearly they’re just warming up…). In the weeks ahead, such appeals will become much more insistent, of course, including more frequent. The thing is, since New Zealanders haven’t been able to travel overseas due to Covid-19, I bet they’ll spend more on Christmas than usual, so maybe aggressive marketing won't be as needed this year? One can hope. In any case, we’ll know for sure a couple months from now when sales figures come out.
There have been several different times that I’ve talked about Kiwi retailers having nothing to hitch the start of the Christmas sales period onto, and that they’ve tried a couple different things. For example, they’ve tried promoting Halloween, which most Kiwis still aren’t into as much as the retailers would like, but, anyway, it’s never going to be a good kick-off to Christmas sales. Seems to me it would be better to focus on Labour Weekend specials, as they do, anyway, because that’s also at the end of October.
The next tactic is that retailers are trying is to promote “Black Friday” sales, even though there’s no Thanksgiving Thursday for it to follow. Even so, it’s arguably been more successful than trying to hitch onto Halloween, and for much the same reason it works in the USA: It’s closer to Christmas. Now, too, retailers that sell tech stuff are promoting “Cyber Monday”, bless their hearts.
Even though I'm cynical about all this, I do wish NZ retailers well. Small business is the engine room of the economy, and that includes lots of small retailers. Collectively, small businesses employ thousands of Kiwis, and those businesses are hurting because of Covid.The big retail chains also employ lots of Kiwis, of course, so people spending up for Christmas indirectly help us all. I do hope some of that spend-up deliberately goes to NZ-made products, though.
Today is “a” launch of the New Zealand holiday selling season. There’s so much more to come.
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