December 14th, 2023, Bhavika Bansal
According to data from YouGov BrandIndex - which monitors consumer perceptions toward brands daily – retail chains John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, and liqueur brand Baileys took over the top three spots for biggest increases in Ad Awareness in November. Ad Awareness asks consumers if they have seen an advertisement for the brand in the prior two weeks, and the difference between a brand's low and high scores for the month determines our Advertisers of the Month.
YouGov's monthly analysis indicates that John Lewis secured the top spot with a rise of 16.6 points in its Ad Awareness score this month. It jumped from 10.3% on November 2 to 26.9% on November 25. A beloved yuletide institution, the John Lewis Christmas advert for the 2023 holiday season embarks on an exploration of how Christmas traditions move on and encourages viewers to embrace new ones.
"Snapper: The Perfect Tree", tells the tale of an unexpected friendship between a young boy called Alfie and his Venus flytrap and celebrates the theme of family love and evolving traditions. In addition to the TV spot, Snapper also appears across multiple brand-led-cut-outs highlighting the John Lewis' festive product range. Customers have the chance to purchase miniature versions of Snapper along with pyjamas featured in the ad. The multi-channel campaign also extends to OOH and social with various planned executions including a 15ft tall replica of Snapper to be unveiled on the roof of the brand’s flagship Oxford Street store, AR filters, and a partnership with Kew Gardens to feature the character in the park.
Snapper, however, is not the only star of the show. In a festive surprise, the song in this year's holiday advert is an original composition, "Festa", written and produced by Le Feste Antonacci, with lyrics approved and performed by operatic superstar Andrea Bocelli. As part of their continuing commitment to support care-experienced young people and families in need, the advert's soundtrack will be released as a full single. Proceeds from every download of the song will give money towards Action for Children, Home-Start UK, and Who Cares? Scotland- the charity partners of John Lewis & Partners' Building Happier Futures Programme.
In second place, British retail chain, Marks & Spencer saw its Ad Awareness score improve by 13 percentage points. Its score rose from a minimum of 29.3% on October 29 to a maximum of 42.3% on November 25. November saw the launch of the much-anticipated M&S Food Christmas campaign. Helmed, for the third consecutive year, by British TV icon Dawn French as the voice of the beloved 'Fairy' - the first ad spot in the six-part blockbuster Christmas ad series - introduces Left and Right as the 'Mittens'. Voiced by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, co-owners of the Wrexham football club, the lonely Mittens join the Fairy on a festive exploration of the brand's festive food range after being separated from their human, Lily. The magic of the campaign doesn't end there. M&S Food also announced a multi-year deal as partners of Wrexam AFC, its first ever local football club partnership. M&S Wrexham store colleagues and AFC Wrexham employees were invited to a special ad premiere event on the club’s stadium scoreboard on November 2.
The 2023 holiday season has been a true rollercoaster for the brand. The launch of M&S Food's first ad follows the M&S clothing and home advert that kicked off the Christmas ads season. The star-studded spot featured Hannah Waddingham, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Tan France and Zawe Ashton as they set out to liberate Britons from traditions they secretly hate.
Rounding up the top three Advertisers of the Month for November 2023 is Baileys. The Irish cream liqueur brand saw its Ad Awareness score move up 12.6 points, from 6.9% on October 26 to 19.4% on November 25. Tapping into all the usual indulgent festive cues, Bailey's 2023 Christmas ad stars Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham who plays the part of the conductor for the MOBO Awards performing choir, the Gold Vocal Collective. Described as a 'Symphony of Indulgence', the ad spot starts with the choir taking a break during rehearsal, only to start rhapsodising again as a Bailey's 'Choc-tail' topped with gold, chocolate and shortbread is made.
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Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. A brand’s Ad Awareness score is based on the question: “Which of the following consumer brands have you seen an advertisement for in the past two weeks?” Data from surveys of adults aged 18 years and above residing in the UK from November 26 to December 25, 2022. Ad Awareness scores are based on a four-week moving average. The change in scores for each brand is calculated by taking the difference between the highest and lowest scoring days within the period. Learn more about BrandIndex.