Myer's Christmas Spot Sidesteps Tradition with Music Video Campaign From Howatson+Co

In a festive landscape often defined by schmaltzy carols and predictable sentiment, how does a heritage department store cut through the noise?

For Myer and its new creative agency, Howatson+Company, the answer was to sidestep tradition entirely, partnering with artist Sycco to reimagine a Jamiroquai classic in a vibrant, single-take film that feels more like a music video than a Christmas ad.

LBB’s Tom Loudon caught up with Howatson+Co creative director Leti Bozzolini and executive strategy director Georgia Pritchard to unpack a campaign built on strategic nostalgia, Australian warmth, and a technically ambitious single shot that had the entire team holding their breath.

LBB> What was the strategic reasoning behind selecting a 'non-Christmas' song like Jamiroquai's, and what did you feel it communicated that a traditional carol could not?

Leti> We wanted to do something around gifting. The lyrics of the song – a classic, something quite intergenerational – [is] fresh within the Christmas context. Once we found this song, we were pretty excited to make this happen in a Christmas environment. Obviously, there was also the other layer of collaborating with Sycco, a great Australian artist, which kept that extra [bit] of freshness.

LBB> Beyond the music video style, what specific cinematic or cultural references influenced the visual aesthetic of the film?

Leti> The music style video came after the whole concept of the song. It was actually an input from our director, Hamish McGregor.

We were looking for something simple that wouldn't distract from the Christmas scenes that we were trying to portray. The spot that lives at the same time as the live performance of Sycco and the band. So we wanted to tell the story of many Christmases without feeling rushed.

LBB> How does Sycco's interpretation of the song sonically embody the "distinctly Australian warmth" you wanted to capture?

Leti> From the get-go, her contribution made this song much warmer and much more textured. She has this really amazing voice, and she made this song [her own]. In a still family scene, the Jamiroquai original wouldn’t have worked as well, but the fact that she was Australian, and then we were portraying all the ingredients of the Australian summer, Christmas, it all came together really naturally.

LBB> The campaign aims to blend Myer's "enduring heritage" with a "fresh approach"; what was the most challenging aspect of balancing these two elements?

Leti> Both the client and agency wanted to do something different. The challenging part of this specific campaign was more technical for us because we were trying to pull off a one-shot.

There wasn't much wiggle room in there. We were all a bit nervous when we shot, and then we got the footage back. We all hoped it worked, and it did, thankfully.

Often, these campaigns are really scrutinised. Obviously, we want our peers to love them, and we don't want them to be cheesy. But then the regular person is always looking for those familiar Christmas feelings you have to have. Otherwise, it would sound too artsy and not resonate with people.

LBB> What was the most unexpected or fun moment during the creative development or production process?

Leti> Working with artists … is always the part that is really satisfying, because you can see people who truly live a creative life, which we would like to, but maybe we don't, really take the leap and create something beautiful. There's always something special about working with a real artist.

The other part was that this year we set up our production company, and it was nice to see at the end of the year when we'd done production and all the smaller scenes came together. Also, the contribution of Sycco made the whole process effortless.

LBB> With this being Howatson+Company's first major work for Myer, what was the most important insight you learned about the brand that shaped the campaign?

Georgia> We all saw this Christmas campaign as a combination of a lot of the brand codes, and a more contemporary world we've been trying to build for Myer all year round.

This pivots a little from the question, but what we were really conscious of this year was the Christmas campaign. [For] Christmas campaigns last year, the real winner was consistency. So it felt really important that our Christmas ad be consistent with all the work we've had in market all year long, rather than a radically new concept or direction. 

I don't think it was so much about learning about the brands, but I really felt like the opportunity to apply the best codes and principles for consistent, contemporary execution. Spirit and world that we've been trying to do for my whole year round.

LBB> In a crowded festive advertising landscape, what do you believe makes this campaign uniquely ownable for Myer?

Leti> In this Christmas ad, you can see that the abstract world we built is immersed in this hue. It's just that gifting spirit that I feel like, beyond Christmas, is something that we will want to continue next year in all the other gift-giving occasions.

Georgia> It's such a cluttered, dense market in this time of year, and that's also why something like a song, which marketing tells us is one of the most powerful things you can do to pull through and create distinction, was really strategically crucial to the Myer business. 

Especially having a song scented with nostalgia. This fresh voice and fresh interpretation drives salience, but will hopefully make it more ownable as a piece of communication --  rather than necessarily needing to create something my own to sell for Christmas.

LBB> Looking beyond sales, how will you measure the success of this campaign in terms of shifting brand perception?

Georgia> Attribution and memorability at this time of year are among the most essential attributes, but gift associations are also really important. So, making sure that people continue to see Myer as an aspirational gifting destination, but also as a place for all destinations, is one of the key parts of our strategy — and why there are so many vignettes in this campaign. We wanted to be bigger than just Christmas morning.

There are so many reasons you buy gifts at this time of year, whether it's for your significant other, maybe Secret Santa at work, or a present for your kids' school teachers. There are so many different gifting occasions, so it also has associations with different gifting moments. Felt really important for Myer, because, obviously, they're a vast department store across Australia. So those variants of gifting occasions felt really important for us to try and land and own this Christmas season.