Christmas Creative 2015: Caroline Pay

She’s deputy executive creative director at BBH London for the most part but below, Caroline Pay, turns Christmas ad critic for shots in a review piece on this year’s holiday campaigns as we approach the month of December.

What’s your favourite Christmas campaign this year and why?

Currys is the one that makes me most jealous. I love that it seems to have come out of nowhere and snuck up on the John Lewis/Sainsbury’s monopoly.

The writing is spot on, the casting obviously brilliant and they have picked the perfect director for the job.

Why do you think Christmas has become such a big marketing event in recent years?

It’s clearly John Lewis' fault, making everyone weep into their mince pies and rush out to buy bears, hares, penguins and telescopes... 

Rather like hosting Christmas, we tend to spend an inordinate amount of time and effort and money making sure our version of Christmas is extra special. Then we sit and wait for everyone to judge whether we’ve smashed it or not.

If brands and agencies up their game for the festive content, why don’t they do it all year round?

Well, budgets only go so far in a marketing year, right? The majority of brands playing this game are retailers and Christmas is the big spending moment for them. It’s also a moment when the nation gathers around the TV… It’s become our version of the Super Bowl, just with more tinsel.

What other campaigns do you think have struck a chord this year and why? 

Well, adam&eve has to be congratulated for producing another famous piece of work for John Lewis, but Mulberry The Miracle of Mulberry and Harvey Nichols Avoid #GiftFace are up there again, too… And AMV seems to be winning hearts for its Mog spot (below), which is beautifully crafted and a joy to watch.

With the ante being upped year on year, where is it heading? Can brands such as John Lewis and Sainsbury’s continue to raise the bar? 

Why not? It’s great for creatives to be inspired and driven by the success of the previous year's work. I remember that feeling on Levi’s, with 30 years of creative hits under its belt. The same goes with Lynx. But this just drives you on to try and do something even better. Good clients also share that giddy feeling of expectation and are more likely to want to back you when you want to do something more ambitious.

Finally, give us your top three out of this year’s bunch and a sentence about why you like them…

Currys - Very funny, down to earth, beautifully cast, wonderfully written, so brilliantly directed.

Harvey Nichols, for being the challenger to the big boys. I don’t love it as much as last year, but I do love the size of its balls.

John Lewis should simply be proud for raising the bar in the first place, then remaining so relevant, famous and fresh. I personally love the film in its own right, but also because I’m a right sucker for old people and bursting with pride for Kim (Gehrig)!