Boots Aims For A Fairytale Christmas With Its Festive Campaign

Boots always aims to offer something magical with its Christmas advertising. This year, it took that a step further by retelling a fairytale led by a character with his own tail - Puss in Boots. It seems so obvious now, it’s a surprise they didn’t think of it before.

Featuring the platform ‘Gift Happily Ever After’, this year’s campaign - created by The Pharm, led by VML - sees its hero, Puss, battle the elements of fairytale-land to shop (with in-store assistance) in a Boots store for personalised gifts for his famous friends. After they all head to the ball, where The Snow Queen receives an extra special gift of hot hand warmers.

Accompanying the story throughout is 80s hit ‘Girls On Film’ by Duran Duran.

“We always take the time to reflect on our previous festive campaigns - understanding what resonated with our audiences and where we can continue to evolve. Last year’s campaign delivered strong results, particularly among our core under-35 customers, and we were really pleased with the reach and engagement it achieved,” explains director of marketing Laura Gooday.

 “This year, we wanted to build on that success with a fresh creative approach that puts meaningful gifting at the centre of the story. ‘Gift Happily Ever After’ brings this to life in a distinctive and playful way through our lead character, Puss, who captures the curiosity and joy of finding the perfect gift at Boots,” she continues.

Behind the brief

Inspiring the VML team for this year's festive offer was the brief to create something centred around the insight of meaningful gifting, and how the retailer can help customers find the perfect gift for everyone.

“We wanted our campaign to celebrate the thought and care that goes into choosing gifts that truly matter. The idea needed to be highly creative and flexible, capable of working seamlessly across all our channels, paid, owned, and earned, while showcasing the breadth of our product range and in-store expertise, with a particular focus on beauty,” adds Gooday.

“It was also important that the campaign felt distinctive and unmistakably Boots. But above all, we wanted to create a memorable and shareable campaign that captures the magic of the season and evokes a sense of togetherness,” she continues.

The campaign will run for eight weeks across social and online, print, cinema, OOH, and audio.

Gooday believes that the campaign conveys the brand’s understanding of the power of meaningful gifting with products that show thought, love and care from the buyer.  

“This campaign celebrates the joy of finding something that really means something,” she adds. ”It positions Boots as the go-to destination for thoughtful presents, brought to life through our incredible range and trusted expertise in beauty. The inclusion of the Boots Beauty Specialist helping Puss find the perfect gifts reflects our real-life commitment to inspiring and supporting customers in finding gifts that make people feel special.” 

In addition to traditional media spend, this year’s strategy includes on-the-go advertising via CityMapper, utilising first-party data to determine the highly relevant geos. Snapchat Map has also been included to connect with audiences on the move and bring them into store. And gamification has been introduced through OOH activity, with Westfield’s Eat Street window mall lifts. A TikTok campaign and YouTube masthead will help boost online and social awareness.

The brand has also continued its sponsorship of the Capital Jingle Bell Ball, as well as continuing its partnership of Glide at Battersea Power Station for a second year.  

Telling Fairytales

The use of well-known fairytale characters was chosen to create instant recognition among the viewers who would understand why Puss’ gifts were each selected - a No7 gift set for ‘Snowy’ or a Shark hair styling tool for ‘Rapaunz’.

Meanwhile, the development of the character of Puss was pivotal to the success with the Boots version featuring a voice that would aim to captivate the audience immediately. Instead of choosing something suave or exotic as in the Shrek films, he has a West Country accent to make him more familiar to British audiences.

“It’s full of character and musicality, yet rich with personality and heart,” outlines Juliana Paracencio, executive creative director at VML/The Pharm.

Comparing him to a feline Santa Clause who is generous and brings a sense of magic and joy, Paracencio believes he also offers a mix of innocence and curiosity while being both fantastical and full of wonder.

And while the ad contains both real footage and CGI, artificial intelligence did feature early in the internal creative process to visualise concepts and develop early-stage presentations - but it was not used in the production process.

“Every frame you see on screen - from Puss, who was modelled on real images of a cat, to the richly detailed storybook environments - was crafted by the team at RASCAL with extraordinary care. Their artistry and attention to detail ensured the world felt truly tangible and full of heart, capturing the timeless magic we wanted to bring to life,” says Paracencio.

With ‘Gift Happily Ever After’, Boots and VML have aimed to create something that feels both timeless and will be remembered fondly for years to come. Puss may yet return for another bout of present buying next year.