“Marketers Get Bored of Creative Platforms Before Consumers Do”

​Zalando’s 2025 holiday campaign is a deliberate departure from the pristine, snow-dusted perfection usually seen at this time of year. Instead, the pan-European push leans into the "messy”, energetic reality of family chaos to answer the brand's enduring question: 'What Do I Wear?' Featuring an eclectic cast that includes Tish Weinstock and ‘The Spanish King’, and backed by the edgy, pulsating track 'HOHO' by Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul, the work trades aspirational gloss for authentic grit.

Created by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and directed by The Weiland Brothers, the campaign is a strategic move designed to cut through a landscape where consumers are bombarded with 10,000 brand messages a day. By inserting the brand into culture via bespoke placements on Netflix and Tinder, the retailer is aiming to move beyond simple awareness to "brand fame”.

Leading this charge is James Rothwell, senior vice president marketing at Zalando. Since joining in March 2025, James has implemented a "dual-speed" marketing engine designed to earn attention rather than just buy it. LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with him to find out why consistency is the most underrated tool in a marketer's kit, how to navigate the "battle for attention”, and what the industry can expect as the brand gears up for a sports-heavy 2026.

LBB> The campaign explicitly moves beyond 'traditional holiday perfection' to capture 'unpolished moments’. As a brand leader, why do you feel that leaning into this 'messy reality' is a more effective way to cut through the Christmas noise than the traditional aspirational gloss?

James> We are in an intense battle for attention: on average in Europe, customers scroll through 10,000 brand messages a day, and we are one of them. To win this battle, our marketing needs to have personality and a strong point of difference to cut through the noise. We want to connect with our audience through an authentic lens of the magic of Christmas. We want to establish Zalando as an entertaining brand that inspires and connects you to something you need, in your moment of inspiration. Fashion connects with consumers on an emotional level and plays an important role in culture. We need to tap into that. Our customers should be able to see themselves in our campaigns. We want to be both relatable and inspirational as a brand, and deliver style confidence in the moments that matter.

LBB> This work builds on the 'What Do I Wear?' platform. From a long-term brand building perspective, how important is it to keep this consistent thread running through the festive period rather than creating a standalone Christmas ad?

James> I’ve always thought that marketing teams get bored with creative platforms before consumers do. The 'What Do I Wear?' platform established a great strategic foundation for us. It places our brand in the heart of the most timeless and universal question, one that everyone asks themselves every single day. We need to have the confidence to repeat that, own that moment when this question translates into fashion inspiration, and answer it with style confidence for our customers. The question becomes all the more important over the holidays; from a corporate party, to a family Christmas dinner, to a New Year’s celebration… What do I wear to all of that? I think our campaign answers this in a fun, entertaining and engaging way.

Strategically, the “What do I Wear?” platform expresses our goal to establish Zalando as a go-to source for fashion and lifestyle inspiration. It makes sense for us to use it consistently throughout all key fashion campaign calendar moments - Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter and Holiday - when customers are especially on the lookout for seasonal inspiration.

LBB> The media strategy is very targeted, with presence on Netflix and Tinder. How does appearing in these entertainment and lifestyle environments help shift Zalando from being just a retailer to a cultural participant?

James> Iconic brands show up in the moments that matter. We aim to build brand fame by meeting consumers where they are and inserting our brand into key cultural moments. We are shifting from a platform customers visit only when they need to buy, to a destination that they return to daily for style, culture, and entertainment.

The proliferation of social media, the growth of entertainment verticals, the migration from linear TV to streaming – they’ve all fundamentally changed how we are able to access target audiences. The bespoke contextual placements on culturally relevant platforms like Netflix, Spotify and Tinder help us move beyond traditional ad placements to create maximum emotional impact and engage customers in the entertainment environments they frequent most. This integration is part of how we leverage culture to build a deeper, more loyal relationship with customers.

LBB> The cast is an eclectic mix, ranging from Tish Weinstock to ‘The Spanish King.’ What does this diverse lineup allow you to achieve in terms of reaching different demographics and keeping the brand feeling 'current'?

James> Our approach is to be as global as possible and as local as necessary. This year, we worked with global talent like Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman and PinkPantheress on large-scale campaigns to achieve universal authority across Europe. You will see us stepping up this approach next year as well. And then we balance this with diverse, relevant personalities that resonate with specific cultural niches and audiences. Fashion is part of a broader cultural context. By choosing contemporary, relevant personalities, we ensure our brand feels current and authentic. For our holiday campaign, we wanted our cast to reflect the eclectic and sometimes chaotic environment of a modern family.

LBB> This campaign feels like a tight integration between media (Tinder, Netflix) and creative. Did the media choice dictate the creative brief, or did the creative idea drive the media buy?

James> We try to deliver a very consistent Zalando DNA in all campaigns, and this allows us to align creative and media very early in the process. We help our customers get ready and show up for their day. We want our campaigns to evoke confidence, meet consumers in their moment of inspiration, and do so in a fun, bold and welcoming way. If we achieve this, we will build brand fame and relevance.

The media strategy in the Holiday period shifts to specifically capture the social and celebratory mindset of our consumer, necessitating contextual placements in entertainment environments. The creative idea, centred on answering “What Do I Wear?” amidst the "festive reality", was executed to be highly bespoke for those chosen media environments. For instance, the creative on Tinder specifically showcases character outfits to give users direct inspiration, while on Netflix we’ve placed ads around holiday favourites.

Our collaboration with media agencies has also evolved to be more data-driven and integrated, using our first-party data to inform the media buying for precise and effective targeting. This ensures the creative and media are integrated from the initial planning stage to achieve maximum emotional impact.

LBB> What sort of creative work does this campaign lay the foundation for in 2026?

James> We are on a journey from brand awareness to brand fame, and I’m excited for everything we have in store to execute this in 2026.

We will continue operating in a dual-speed, dual-engine model, combining the reach of a global advertiser with the agility of a modern publisher. Our first marketing “engine” is large-scale, high-quality brand moments, such as the global seasonal campaigns that build brand authority and drive mass consideration. We are preparing full speed for the global seasonal campaigns 2026 and have nice surprises in store there. The second “engine” – our Newsroom – is something we introduced this year. It’s an agile, social-first in-house team designed to react to relevant trends and topics daily. It ensures that we are plugged in key cultural moments as a brand, that we are locally relevant and that we earn attention before buying it.

Zalando’s strategic goal of expanding into lifestyle will play a major role in our marketing as well. You will see our lifestyle offerings, such as Beauty, Kids & Family and Sports, being more and more integrated into our global marketing programming, next to fashion. Sports in particular is such a great opportunity for us next year, with the World Cup coming up and our recently signed 5-year partnership with the German Football Federation. It’s really exciting for us to tackle all these new frontiers, meeting our customers in moments they are passionate about.