Spreading Holiday Cheer and Consumer Diversity: Gap and the Holiday Commercial Season

Ah, the magic of the holiday commercial season. Gap, Garmin, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and a bevy of other brands are hopping on the holiday bandwagon and releasing feel-good campaigns the represent the sentiment of the holidays.

It’s no secret that advertisers use holiday appeals in their campaigns, and not just those end-of-year holidays. This year, Heineken beer ran print ads as the “official sponsor of Halloween” (see print examples at Paula Zargaj-Reynold’s blog).

For the end-of-year holiday season, advertisers attempt to evoke positive, sentimental, warmhearted, and uplifting affective consumer responses. You might know these ads from the “warm and fuzzy” feeling you get inside when you see a holiday ad (see Rennie’s Nov 14^th post on WalMart’s Christmas TV spot). But how does “warm and fuzzy” translate to increased ROI?

This year, many companies are increasing their holiday advertising budget beyond previous years, many hoping to combat falling sales in an economic downturn. Companies like Kmart, Wal-Mart, Target, J.C. Penney, Home Depot, and Lowe’s are all up on advertising spending for the holiday season (see Wall Street Journal’s article). Increasingly, these retailers are emphasizing value for frugal consumers in an economic recession, hoping that their holiday appeals will capture the heart (and the wallet) of holiday shoppers.

Retailers like Gap are releasing campaigns with a mass holiday appeal for consumers with a variety of holiday beliefs.

The Crispin Porter + Bogusky TV spot, Gap’s first in over two years, features “Glee-style” dancers chanting, “go Christmas, go Hanukkah, go Kwanzaa, go solstice,” in an effort to include consumers with a variety of beliefs. Embracing the diversity of American consumers, including their religious differences, is an effective way for advertisers to create mass appeal and celebrate the holidays responsibly. Gap embraces the sentiment of the holidays with a message of inclusiveness.

However, the American Family Association called for a two-month boycott of all Gap brands, claiming Gap failed to use the word ‘Christmas’ in its advertising. The War on Christmas happens every holiday season, but this ban is particularly interesting because the Gap spot does, in fact, use the word ‘Christmas.’ But Gap shouldn’t fret about the AFA ban: historically, past AFA bans have had no impact on sales (see LA Times article).

Whatever your holiday beliefs may be, embracing the diversity of consumers is a smart and socially responsible way to usher in the holiday season, especially in advertising. Marketing messages of sentiment, tenderheartedness, and “warm and fuzzy” feelings are the best way to celebrate the spirit of the holidays.