A Winter Warner: The Sound of Christmas 2020

 

Liam> Disney aren’t known for their big Christmas campaigns so their ambitions for this one were huge. Knowing this, we were highly involved from the start and we began working on it back in May. We threw all our weight behind it, pulling in teams from across Warner Records such as marketing and radio promotions to really help propel the song and the advert. When Disney heard Griff’s voice and the demo she had delivered they were hooked. The resulting advert is a perfect marrying of an original track and an original animation that is unmistakably Disney – it celebrates a traditional Philippine Christmas and pulls at the heartstrings the way only Disney can. 

 

When it went live it felt like all the hard work had paid off. The reaction and reach has been incredible – it’s had more than 30 million views on Facebook and Griff is achieving her highest chart position to date.

 

 

 

 

Liam> What I love about this spot is the unabashed and fun creative. There aren’t many great hip-hop Christmas songs, and certainly not many big ones since Run DMC in the ‘80s. So when we unearthed this Gucci Mane track we were so excited because we had a really credible, enjoyable piece of music that we knew would be perfect for KFC. Warner Music has such an amazing catalogue, and so many artists record Christmas songs, so it’s a real privilege to dive into the archive every year and try to find something interesting and evergreen for our clients.

 

 

Tim> We really pushed ‘Levitating’ with Morrisons because we knew it was going to be the single of the moment and we knew they would benefit from the song being on the radio, in the charts and on playlists, when the spot went live. It perfectly sums up a great British family Christmas and is soundtracked by the world’s biggest popstar – representing how omnipresent Dua has been in 2020. It’s a real feel-good spot and one we hope we can see replicated in real life up and down the country this year.

 

On top of the advert, we also got Morrisons involved in Dua’s live stream which was viewed by more than five million people. They had the ad spot just before she went live so we were delighted to be able to bring even more eyes to their campaign.

 

Tim> This one was really interesting as it was an extension of a previous deal. What we’ve seen in a lot of spots this year is a sense of escapism and reminiscence and with this song you’re taken right back to its release six years ago. This is an example of a track informing the direction of the creative and the way they’ve used it is really enduring, with families singing it through different festive scenarios. Great pop music has helped people get through this year and it has been used perfectly in this campaign.

 

 

 

 

Tim> This is another brand that had used a song throughout the year and decided it was also the perfect fit for their Christmas campaign. There’s a real gloss with Kylie and that’s exactly what they’ve gone for with this campaign. There aren’t many songs that resonate this much positivity and Studio.co.uk have replicated that with an advert that is full of joy.

Liam> There is so much to be said for an up and coming artist landing a brand new opportunity on a huge campaign. We were so pleased that this spot would open Rachel up to a massive audience who will hear her amazing voice. Rachel re-recorded this classic song and we’ve seen real value in brands using old favourites to bring people together.

 

Tim> Schweppes is a party brand and is associated with bars, good times and Christmas parties. There’s so much swagger and cheekiness in this song that it was the perfect fit. The way they have cut around the guitar riff is really great and they’ve taken such an iconic riff and emphasised it even more. The fact that this song was a hit in 2003 really appeals to Schweppes demographic – the gin and tonic drinker!

 

 

Tim> This is a really beautiful advert, with the whole idea centred around connecting people during isolation. In my opinion this is one of the most powerful songs Warner Music has put out in the last five years. It narrates the story of isolation effortlessly, while the lyrics refer to making it through a tough situation which sums up this year perfectly. We’ve already had a huge response to this ad and are seeing people discover Andra and the song for the first time.

 

It’s interesting to see how this year’s campaigns are split between joyful escapism and emotive, compassionate creatives. This one definitely falls into the latter and the result is a really powerful campaign.

 

 

Liam> If any positives came out of 2020, it’s the compassion people have shown each other and the gratitude people have for the NHS. We wanted to show our support and thank the NHS so jumped at the chance to collaborate with them on this campaign. We got together with Birdy, and once we’d seen the visuals, she re-recorded the track and added a very slight Christmas flavour to it. Birdy was really supportive of the campaign and has put a lot of time and effort into it – after receiving the brief she delivered the new version of the song in just four days. It’s a really beautiful story and the song fits perfectly. It’s a nice way to wrap up the year.