Prioritise Simplicity and Emotion to Cut Through Christmas Cacophony

Brands face a tough task at this time of year: Chart a path through the noisiest and most important retail period to attract eyeballs, attention, and dollars. Digitas Australia CEO Davy Rennie, Poem executive director of strategy and social Alex Watts, and jnr. partner and executive creative director Jenny Mak believe the answer to cutting through the Christmas cacophony lies in simplicity.

Jenny says “connection is everything” for traditional Christmas campaigns, and the difficulty is to achieve that “without losing authenticity”.

“The challenge is finding something true and simple, and then having the confidence to stick with it,” she says.

“[Clients] want campaigns that feel human, not just festive noise. After a tough few years, there’s a clear appetite for simplicity. No one’s after complicated Christmas stories; they want ideas that are easy to feel and hard to forget.”

Davy echoes this, adding it’s “bloody hard to be authentic and not cheesy”, especially in the customer experience space. It involves “making things that used to be hard, easy” and “creating friction in moments that just create a little bit of joy”.

“Consumers just want life to be that little bit easier when it comes to Christmas time. The majority don’t want things that get in the way -- they want to spend time with friends and family and celebrate the joy of Christmas. At the end of the day, JOY is Christmas. And any customer experiences that we create must add to that or create more time for it.”

“My kids will always remember the David Jones Christmas Lift or the Jelly Cat bakery at Galleries Lafayette in Paris. Both simple. Both joyful. Both innovative. But my favourite ‘Christmas innovation’ was Telstra’s phone call to Santa. Simple, joyful [and] innovative,” Davy says.

This year’s Australian Christmas campaigns so far have included a music-video style film for Myer, bold and fun exploration of festive personas for Westfield, a restrained yet humorous take for Typo, a hungry basset hound fronting Coles’ offering, and a totally different approach from BIG W.

​Aldi saw pants flying off families' legs, and Uber censored exclamations with doorbells, while Telstra leaned into its animated streak with the latest instalment of ‘Together is For Christmas’, featuring a girl and a ghost.

Alex says it’s not a case of which social channels are best at cutting through, but rather how good the idea or execution is.

“The best channels are the ones where you actually have a chance at getting your consumers' attention. That might be through TikTok, if you're willing to invest in the content and community efforts needed to be successful there -- or it might be through creator and influencer marketing on social or might even be on Reddit, if you can get it right.

“Controversially, Australian advertisers and marketers are really good at having ideas, but rubbish at executing them in a way that can cut through, and even worse at connecting the idea to what actually drives cultural impact. At Christmas, this problem is amplified, because brands fall back on the same old tricks, or tired insights, and end up falling flat because the market is so busy,” Alex says.

“Every other brand who has the same goals as you is spending on the same channels as you, targeting the same people as you. If you're going to win Christmas, you need to be distinctive, emotionally compelling, and genuinely interesting -- which is not always easy.

“Ease often wins out over novelty -- which can be a real barrier if you're trying to introduce a new product or brand to market.”

Jenny says originality comes from speaking to local audiences, referring to Aldi as a successful example. She says it leans “into moments and humour that [felt] immediately familiar and highly relatable,” which is “the kind of originality that cuts through the chaos -- not because it tries to outsmart Christmas, but because it captures what it actually feels like.”

Last year’s local Aldi ad featured a life-sized gravy boat built to transport a turkey, while this year’s edition, which launched earlier this week, encouraged Australians to take second helpings in comfy pants, in a campaign titled ‘Go On, It’s Christmas’.

“Everyone wants the ad that makes people cry, or the ad that trends,” Jenny says.

“But chasing a moment rarely creates one. The best Christmas work usually comes from clarity – knowing exactly what you want people to feel and not overcomplicating it.”

Experiences, not ‘things’, are front of mind at Christmas, Davy argues, meaning the “best strategies make utilities that create experiences that place brands authentically in the lives of customers”.

“Like planning a festive feast with mates using ALDIfy from ALDI, so you can make the recipe you saved in TikTok, without busting the entire holiday budget in one extravagant hosting. When brands are invited into the lives and homes of Australians at Christmas, it’s a gift from them to us. Any strategic work has to be authentic and fit seamlessly into the Christmas experience, or we will be kicked out before the clock strikes 12 at new year.”

He also adds clients are more “customer-obsessed than ever before”.

“[Clients] don’t just want to know who [customers] are, they need to know how they are feeling, what they love, what they don’t, and what role their brand plays in their lives. That’s because consumers are more aware of their choices, what they have or don’t have to spend, and what matters most to them.

“Brand building still works, but the brands that are winning are going beyond broad messages of sales and discounts. They create personal engagements and understanding, being there in the moments that matter most, and creating relationships not transactions. While AI dominates the headlines and the hype builds, quietly but importantly we have seen a real explosion in 1-to-1 marketing and loyalty briefs. Clients want to know what keeps consumers in their ecosystem and their attention, they want to know what they need to do to keep consumers engaged.”

Unanimously, the trio agrees that authenticity is what will ultimately cut through. A classic like John Lewis’ ‘The Bear and The Hare’ -- this year’s highly-anticipated John Lewis ad zoomed in on a moment of connection over house music for a father and son -- still nails it for Jenny: the perfect example of “simple, honest truths told well”.

“On paper, it’s a hare giving a bear an alarm clock -- not exactly groundbreaking,” she says.

“The real gift was letting him experience Christmas morning for the first time. It was simple, magical and deeply emotional.”