Everyone is sprinting into the end of the year with fresh campaigns and sentimental storylines. Amazon looked at all that chaos, shrugged, and said cool, we will just rerun the best commercial we ever made. Honestly, it's an elite move. More brands should try doing the thing that already works instead of lighting money on fire just to feel productive. Yea, we said it. 😉

Quick shameless plug before we dive in… 

We have been busy breaking down how enterprise tech CMOs handle the next wave of supply chain attacks, why executives at Web Summit are rethinking tech reputation and AI governance, and how quantum computing is about to force a total rewrite of comms strategy. If you have not peeked at these yet, you should. They are that good.

Back to the fun stuff. This time of year exposes who knows their audience and who is throwing glitter at a wall hoping for magic. Friendly reminder…You can rerun your greatest hits and playbook. You can chase Gen Alpha with social first ideas. You can even remind people the World Cup is nine months away which is arguably more useful than another slow motion snow angel.

Bottom line. Stick to what works. Try something clever. If it works, do it again. If it doesn’t, stop. In an increasingly confusing and scary marketing landscape, it really is that simple. Make people feel something that is not holiday induced exhaustion. Just do not overthink it. You have enough of that on your calendar already.

Let’s go.

Becky & Greg

Do Nothing: Amazon re-aired a 2023 spot for this holiday season

TL;DR: Amazon’s 2023 “Joy Ride” commercial has been revered as Amazon’s most effective ad of all time, testing off the scale for emotional resonance and brand building. Instead of launching a whole new holiday campaign this year, they’re re-airing the spot as the pillar of their seasonal approach.

Takeaway: In a time when we’re constantly chasing the new and exciting, research shows the opposite might be the best approach. Effectiveness scholars have found that existing ads often outperform the new ones created to replace them. In fact, it seems that marketers get sick of their ads much quicker than consumers do. Re-runs, especially during the sentimental holiday season, provide consumers with consistency, reliability, and stability. So, instead of throwing budget behind a splashy new production, your brand might benefit from rerouting those dollars toward remarketing an old favorite.

Consider:

• Are you guilty of pulling your promos before they reach their maximum potential? If you feel like your campaigns typically start gaining traction right when you’re about to end them, you might fall into this category. Try rerunning a popular past campaign and be patient as it finds its footing. (We know, being patient is hard.)

• Are you avoiding running a specific campaign because you lack the budget to draw up a whole new production? Reruns can be incredibly helpful here! Instead of spending a huge chunk on something brand new, spend less to amplify or tweak a campaign that performed well.

Welcome the new market: How brands like Lowe’s are using social to win over Gen Alpha

TL;DR: In an effort to reach the ever-growing Gen Alpha cohort of shoppers, Lowe’s has taken a social-first approach to its holiday campaign, including a partnership with MrBeast through its Lowe’s Creator Network which provides influencers with their own custom storefront.

Takeaway: The oldest of Gen Alpha is just turning 15, but as our research finds, their influence on family spending starts early with 70% of parents saying their children impact household purchases. By leaning into social media and influencer marketing, these brands are stripping away their old playbook and leaning into niche, unique opportunities that target that unique demographic of emerging shoppers. With affiliate marketing expected to account for $215.9 billion in consumer spending in 2025, buyers trust real people most when looking for product recommendations or shopping ideas. There’s no better time to jump on this than the high-spend holiday shopping season when purchases are top-of-mind. Empowering creators to curate product recommendations helps consumers see themselves in your brand’s offerings and allows your brand to jump on an already-established audience.

Consider

• Are you prepared to welcome the next generation of consumers? Key Gen Alpha consumer trends include mobile-first discovery, creator-led trust, hybrid play, and purpose-driven purchasing. It’s not too early to start aligning your brand with these trends so you’re ready when Gen Alpha takes over.

• Is your holiday campaign playing it safe or primed for experimentation? With shopping so top-of-mind, now’s the perfect time to try something new with your strategy in attempt to learn about your audience and stand out from the crowd.

Get clever: Huggies wants consumers to remember it’s 9 months until the World Cup

TL;DR: Baby diaper brand Huggies’ latest campaign is a reminder to those in the midst of family planning that the 2026 FIFA World Cup is nine months away – a perfect time to line up parental leave with watching the games. The campaign, “Do It for the Team,” is mostly for laughs but does include a sweepstakes for the chance to win six weeks of free diapers in June 2026.

Takeaway: A sentimental, emotive campaign is the obvious choice heading into this holiday season. But this campaign reminds us two things: first, there are more events to jump onto than just the holiday season. Pick a unique one (National App Day on December 11, for example) and you’ll stand apart from all the noise directed toward the holidays. Second, joy and humor is still emotion-based advertising. In a time when every brand is trying to get consumers feeling sentimental, stand apart from the crowd by making them laugh. We know the parents on our team certainly got a laugh out of this one.

Consider:

• Struggling to stand apart for the holidays? Don’t! Pick another holiday or topic entirely. If you feel like your brand won’t benefit from holiday-specific advertising, try something else or, better yet, run it in tandem alongside a generic holiday campaign to see which approach wins out.

• If your brand isn’t sentimental and somber, don’t force it. Humor and cleverness can go a long way, even if it isn’t the cliche this time of year. The goal is to make your consumers feel something but that something doesn’t necessarily need to make them cry.

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