SVP/Group Creative Director Cliff Sorah talks "Retail Marketing Mistakes to Avoid This Holiday Season"

Retail Marketing Mistakes to Avoid This Holiday Season

For the last nine years, we’ve worked with the world’s largest retailer; that’s eight holiday seasons driving billions of dollars in revenue. We’ve learned a lot – from handling the stress of the heavy workloads, to managing the changing briefs and tight deadlines – but we’ve also learned how to avoid some of the most common mistakes that plague retail CMOs during the holidays. If you’re looking for better results (and a lot fewer headaches) this holiday season, here are five things to avoid:

Starting with Executions Instead of an Overarching Idea

As you begin to receive the flurry of holiday ad requests and briefs, it’s easy to get caught up in going straight to execution. Don’t make that mistake. Well before you ask your agency to go to execution, ask them to create an overarching idea that’s sure to be present in all executions. For example, one year we focused on ideas that expressed “more;” more joy for the holidays, more wonder for the holidays, and more ways to shop during the holidays.

Whatever your idea is, its strength should be determined by how well it answers a few key questions. How can it connect with people beyond assortment and price? How can it demonstrate that you care about the holidays as much as your consumers do? How can it create enough goodwill that it helps you win even if your item is priced higher than a competitor’s? Only when you have an idea that answers all of your questions should you move to execution.

Creating Ads That Don’t Add Up

While you might have separate concepts for ads across print, broadcast, and digital, it’s critical that your overarching idea is part of any and all forms of your brand’s communication, from TV commercials and display ads to social posts and content, even point of sale. 

Your idea will hold all of your communications together from brand and reputation executions to price/item executions. It, along with consistent visual branding cues, consistent musical style and a consistent tone of voice, will all work together to prevent misattribution. And the last thing you want is for your ad spending to benefit a competitor.

Forgetting to Leave Room for Emotion

This is the season when merchants have anxiety attacks. They want to be sure all of their products get maximum exposure, so they tend to ask for products and price in every single communication. There is a place for their products. There is a huge place – just not in every single ad.

Remember that emotion during the holidays, more perhaps than at any other time of year, is incredibly important. It is the season of cheer, after all. Be sure that in addition to price/item work, there is work that makes consumers feel something about your brand. The world’s largest retailer generally uses a few different levels of work, all connected by an overarching idea but with each level designed to do a different job. If your media plan allows such a mix, let the merchants see it. Let them see how brand and product communications support each other, especially when connected by an overarching idea. When they understand how their ads fit into the entirety of the communications plan maybe, just maybe, they’ll see how your plan can move sales and brand attributes at the same time.

Failing to Have a Backup Plan for Last-Minute Changes

Whether it’s an unforeseen product recall, a competitor who has a better deal or there’s a new hot gift prediction, we all know that there is no sure way to anticipate every possible change in trend or price during the holidays. So make sure you’re aptly prepared. As part of your holiday mix of ads, build a few “donuts” for flexibility. Donuts are basically ads that are prerecorded and edited but have a section built in that allows for switching in any product and price very quickly. So instead of having your agency concept, present and execute new work each time a change occurs, you can simply grab the appropriate donut, slug in the item/price/promotion/news and be ready to go. Trust me on this. You will need them, you will use them, and you will breathe a sigh of relief once you have them.

Creating a One-Trick Pony

Don’t create an entirely new idea every year if you don’t need to. Instead, learn from this year and keep in mind what worked that can be implemented again next year. If your overarching idea gained traction, sales were great and your brand affinity rose, try to use it or build off it for the next year. Make a holiday tradition. Evolving your idea from year to year will help people remember you, and it’s a lot easier than starting from scratch.

A brilliant example of building a holiday tradition is the work done by UK retailer John Lewis. Their holiday campaigns are eagerly anticipated and are said to kick off the holiday season.

No CMO, or agency for that matter, is immune to any and all mistakes. However, by keeping these most common mistakes in mind, you can hopefully have a few less headaches this holiday season. Above all, remember to see the light at the end of the tunnel. At no other time in the retail year are tensions and stakes as high as during the holidays – it is physically taxing and intellectually exhausting, both for you and your advertising agencies. Just remember that everyone is feeling the same … and it will pass. Plus, once the holiday season is over, Spring and Easter are just around the corner.

About the Author

Cliff Sorah is an SVP Group Creative Director at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Virginia. Since joining Martin in 1987, Cliff has touched nearly every account in the agency, most recently as the creative lead on Walmart, Penske, and Timberland PRO.