The Best Christmas Ads 2024

One of those traditions is the wave of Christmas ads that fill our TV and digital spaces. These ads, with their red and green color schemes, snowy landscapes, and heartwarming or humorous stories, capture the spirit of the holidays and create lasting impressions.

At Kantar, we are passionate about brand communications. This past holiday season, we tested Christmas ads aired in Belgium, alongside running the fifth year of our Christmas Ads Campaign in the UK. In the UK, Christmas ad spending reached a record high of £10.5 billion.

It is clear that festive advertising remains an exciting part of the holiday season. According to our survey, 56% of respondents mentioned they look forward to watching Christmas advertisements.

In Belgium, the retail industry has been particularly active with its Christmas campaigns. We tested ads from notable brands such as Kruidvat, Bol, Carrefour, Colruyt, and Carglass, highlighting the variety and creativity in holiday storytelling.

Kruidvat’s love story manages to capture and hold attention exceptionally well, emerging as the strongest ad among all those tested. It highlights the power of good storytelling, adding a romantic touch to the festive season. From the very first moment, the ad grabs attention and sparks curiosity about how the story will unfold, ending with a humorous twist. Notably, Kruidvat tailored the ending of their ad to cater specifically to French and Dutch audiences, showcasing a thoughtful approach to cultural nuances.

What truly makes this ad stand out is the central role given to the brand. At Kantar, we understand that strong branding isn’t just about screen presence or duration. Especially on TV, it’s crucial that brand stories are unmistakably linked to the intended brand. Kruidvat excels here, seamlessly integrating their branding at the peak of the story—the meeting of the two protagonists.

While it could be argued that the ad resembles a "reveal" format, where the brand only appears towards the end—potentially risking viewer disengagement—Kruidvat overcomes this challenge with an evocative narrative that keeps viewers hooked. The ad’s compelling storytelling ensures that the audience stays engaged until the very end, making it a standout example of effective holiday advertising.

Colruyt has maintained a consistent creative style over time, and this approach remained unchanged during the Christmas period. The ad features a store employee delivering news in a daily store setting, accompanied by signature Colruyt cues such as their distinctive fridges.

This decision to stay true to their established brand assets, rather than adopting a Christmas-specific visual narrative, has paid off. Colruyt’s commitment to consistency resulted in the strongest branding performance in our study. A consistent approach to brand communication is vital; when brands invest in long-term campaigns, they foster more than just recognition—they build emotional connections that deeply resonate with consumers.

However, the everyday, ordinary setting depicted in Colruyt’s ad seemed to generate limited enjoyment among viewers. It is a fine balance to have content that is consistent yet fresh enough to get attention.

This year, Carrefour's ad showcases various families in the midst of Christmas preparations, capturing the rush and joy of the season. From children to grandparents, the ad beautifully illustrates the excitement of getting ready and the warmth of spending time together during Christmas. With a continuous voiceover narrating the visuals and background music enhancing engagement, the ad aims to evoke a festive spirit.

While Carrefour's ad this year appears to have been designed for a broader audience rather than specifically for Belgium, it still carries universal festive themes. AI predictions suggest that its potential to capture attention is moderate. Recent AI testing of 380 Effie-winning ads in Belgium highlighted a key insight: stronger content often benefits from being either created specifically for Belgium or thoughtfully adapted to reflect cultural nuances. While we recognize that it may not always be feasible for marketers to develop market-specific content for every occasion, ensuring that transferred materials resonate well with the target audience can significantly enhance their impact.

Improving an ad’s creative quality from ‘Average’ to ‘Best’ will lead to a 30% or more increase in ROI. Kantar’s LinkAI, with its effectiveness and efficiency, enables testing materials that will otherwise won’t be tested. Moving an ad from an average to a best performer space, will increase marketer’s advertising ROI by 30%.

1 “Reviewing the Top 10 Drivers of Advertising Profitability”, by Duncan Southgate (Kantar) and Paul Dyson (Accelero) – August 2020 2 “Proving the ROI of Creative Quality”, a Kantar white paper on creative effectiveness meta-analysis based on 1,400 TV ads that ran from 2010 to 2021 representing 270 brands across 5 categories (CPG, Retail, Insurance, Technology, Financial Services) – March 2021

Kantar UK’s study on Christmas ads for the last 4 years, showed that were a masterclass in leveraging consistency to drive effectiveness. According to Kantar, two-thirds of the top-performing Christmas ads in 2024 maintained continuity with prior campaigns, proving that sticking to proven creative platforms can deliver both short-term impact and long-term brand-building benefits.

Kantar’s research on the effectiveness of this year’s crop of Christmas ads shows that consistency makes sure the ad feels unmistakably tied to the brand, which has a more integral role in the story. Consistent ads are in the top 26% for branding, whereas news ads are almost exactly in line with the average.

Although Carglass' 2024 ad is not breaking records in branding, it still establishes a strong connection with the brand and serves as a great example of fresh consistency. The brand follows a familiar approach, featuring Santa delivering gifts and encountering an issue with his car's glass. The story is predicted to be highly enjoyable and holds strong potential to think differently about the brand. The ad effectively delivers Christmas vibes while seamlessly integrating the brand and its core promise at the heart of the narrative. Additionally, this year’s campaign incorporates digital possibilities, introducing novel ways of engaging with Carglass and it is delivered in a heartwarming way with children also helping Santa but not only that, the story also manages to deliver ‘the pace’ of Carglass delivery.

It is not written in stone that you must have 30-45 seconds to deliver a compelling narrative. While longer ads offer more potential to tell fuller stories, shorter formats can be just as effective when well-designed. Bol demonstrated this beautifully, conveying its message in just 15 seconds.

The encounter of an early Christmas shopper with Sinterklaas and the awkward look between the two is highly engaging. The ad generates strong appeal and also delivers a strong potential to move Bol.com top of mind for festive period shopping. LinkAI’s emotion traces gives us a scene by scene prediction of how certain ad metrics would move and below, we see that the silent ‘look’ is predicted to be quite an engaging part of the narrative.

In conclusion, the 2024 Christmas advertising campaigns in Belgium showcased a diverse range of storytelling techniques and brand strategies. From Kruidvat's engaging love story to Colruyt's consistent brand presentation, each ad offered unique insights into effective festive marketing.

As brands continue to navigate the balance between universal appeal and local relevance, tools like Kantar's LINK AI can provide valuable guidance. By leveraging AI-powered insights, marketers can predict an ad's in-market success swiftly, ensuring their messages resonate with target audiences and maximize impact. Reflecting on these campaigns offers valuable lessons for future advertising endeavors, emphasizing the importance of creativity, cultural adaptation, and strategic brand alignment.