How Boots Will Make Magic Ahead Of A Wicked Christmas

This year’s Christmas campaign from Boots aims to 'Make Magic' alongside making the brand synonymous with beauty and gifting as it promotes 55 new beauty brands available both in-store and online including Prada Beauty, Made by Mitchell and Supergoop! 

Created by VML and dedicated WPP division The Pharm, the latest Boots holiday campaign sees actor Adjoa Andoh front 'The Christmas Makeover' – a film featuring Mrs. Claus as she oversees Santa’s toy room and prepares it and the elves for the big occasion, showcasing various products along the way.

Directed by Dave Meyers and set to the soundtrack Who’s That Girl by Eve, the ad will initially air through Boots social media channels before reaching mainstream TV and then across radio, cinema, print, social, and online for seven weeks.

“This has probably been our biggest beauty campaign since ‘Here Come The Girls',” says Boots chief marketing officer Pete Markey, as he explains the beauty focus that the brand has adopted alongside the “sassy confidence” he feels is on display this year.  

“We know Christmas and we have it covered. We know the things you want and need to send to your loved ones. So, you can afford to walk into Christmas with a bit more confidence in your narrative but showcase the wonderful, beautiful products that people want and expect too,” he continues around this year’s beauty focus.

Making Christmas magic

Markey also believes that this extends the brand mantra he introduced when he joined four years ago – “Wow Boots!” is what he wants people to think about when it comes to the brand while telling the "With You For Life” story along the way. He also sees this latest work as an evolution of the three winter campaigns he has previously overseen having focused on adding Boots to the public conversation when people discuss watching rival retail ads from John Lewis and and Tesco.

Ryan McManus, VML UK’s chief creative officer, adds that for this Christmas campaign, the team wanted to try and give the season a makeover, moving away from its “Joy” theme that has been in play for the last three years. That involved celebrating women and how they make Christmas beautiful by celebrating Mrs. Clause as a hero with the main film showcasing the work that many women do throughout the season to make it a success.

“We wanted to bring beauty to Christmas. There's a lot of storytelling in ads at Christmas, but we wanted to bring beauty and a bit more decadence and shine and glitter to Christmas. And also a bit of truth that Mrs. Claus is doing a lot more than we know behind the scenes,” he adds.

Supporting the film will be a host of media activations, including a continuing focus around out-of-home, deliberately following hot on the heels of the recent Boots 3D billboards that have gained mass attention while promoting the new beauty products.

Markey admits he has been surprised at the level of attention ‘The Make More Room For Beauty” boards have garnered, including one with a physical spraying perfume bottle. He saysthat another will follow in January based on value and adds that there will be more disruptive out-of-home planned from the lessons he and the team have now learned.

New ways of engaging consumers

Traditional routes to promote itself at Christmas have been covered, but Boots aims to experiment along the way. Half of all media spend will be using first-party data to ensure that 91 per cent of the Boots target audience will be reached across the AV landscape.

And 65 per cent of its media strategy features new tactics to bring the campaign to life.

So, while it will work with beauty influencers to promote its new range of products, it has also agreed a “Christmas on YouTube” partnership that will place the film as the first ad within a curated festive playlist. Boots is also partnering with Universal Pictures and Pearl and Dean for the forthcoming release of the film version of the smash hit musical Wicked, tying back to the 'Make Magic' theme.

“It's a critical bit of making the relevant connections,” states Markey. “There are amazing looks in Wicked, it has amazing expressions and confidence. For me, I want Boots to be synonymous with this amazing movie, where people know that they can shop there to get that look from Wicked.”

It will also activate across Reddit and Pinterest for the first time while securing a Snapchat takeover to promote Black Friday weekend offers.

Boots is also set to appear in the world of gaming with an Activision partnership that has led to the development of a Christmas-themed game that will appear on Candy Crush, Bubble Witch Saga and Farm Hero.

McManus says he believes the brand can tap such a wide variety of entertainment touchpoints.

“Boots has always been a part of culture because it's been on the high streets everywhere, and now it's starting to really attach to other cultural touch points and entertainment in experiences. It really has the license and the credibility to be able to do that organically and to start bringing in more experiences, more entertainment, and connecting it back to the products. That's going to continue to evolve in culture as we go, which is incredibly exciting as a brand and as a set of products,” McManus explains.

The latest Christmas campaign showcases the rising ambitions of the Boots team, the culmination of a series of campaigns that have run throughout its 175th anniversary. But Markey underlines that this is a brand that is only looking forward, doing new things while trying to make magic for consumers along the way.