Asda continues to top System1’s Christmas effectiveness rankings this year with its ad featuring Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf character, which achieved the research firm’s top score for its potential to drive long-term brand impact.
Trailing in second, third and fourth place are the ads of Amazon, Aldi and M&S. Like Asda, all three ads achieved an “exceptional” star rating of 5.9, the highest score System1 can award. However, Asda’s ad also demonstrates the strongest potential to drive short-term sales growth, pushing it into the top spot.
In fifth place is Lego’s Katy Perry-fronted ad with a score of 5.8, followed by The National Lottery (5.7), Disney (5.5), Lidl (5.4), Barbour (5.3), Tesco (5.2), Cadbury (5.2) and Boots (5.2).
This year an unprecedented 16 Christmas ads achieved five star scores. Ordinarily just 1% of ads in System1’s testing reach the top rank, and in 2021 only two Christmas ads made the cut: Aldi’s ‘A Christmas Carrot’ and Coca-Cola’s annual ‘Holidays are Coming’
“Marketers had a tricky job this Christmas thanks to the cost of living crisis and most of them got their ads bang on target,” says System1’s chief customer office, Jon Evans. “We’ve been testing Christmas ads for a decade and we’ve never seen as much five star work
Primark to invest £140m in developing UK store estate
Primark plans to open at least four new stores and create 850 new jobs in the UK over the next two years, increasing its overall selling space by more than 160,000sq ft.
The £140m investment also includes plans to extend and invest in the retailer’s existing 190 UK stores, including refurbishment, upgrades, and relocations. A second dedicated Primark Home space will be opening in Primark’s Liverpool store, following the launch of its first in Merry Hill last year.
According to CEO Paul Marchant, the investment reaffirms Primark’s commitment to the future of UK retail. Noting the business’s international expansion plans, he says: “The UK is our biggest market and, as we
continue to grow and expand our business internationally, we remain as committed as ever to investing in our stores to offer more customers our great value clothing, beauty, homewares and much more.”
On top of its UK estate, Primark stores can currently be found in 13 other countries. The business has opened 27 new stores in its current financial year overall, with the aim to reach 530 by 2026.
