Matalan Declares 'It's Showtime' This Christmas

McCann’s campaign positions the retailer as the source of show-stopping inspiration

By Creative Salon

06 November 2025

This Christmas, Matalan takes centre stage with "It's Showtime," a new multi-channel campaign celebrating the joy, pride, and excitement customers feel when preparing for the festive season. After all, Christmas isn’t just any show – it’s the show and Matalan is here to help its customers make it a masterpiece. Developed in collaboration with McCann Manchester, the campaign continues to deliver on Matalan’s everyday style, quality and value showcasing collections across homeware, womenswear, menswear, and kidswear, positioning the retailer as the go-to destination for creating a show-stopping Christmas.

Reflecting Matalan’s growing ambition to inspire customers in every aspect of their lives, “It’s Showtime” transforms the ritual of decorating, dressing and hosting into a performance. The home becomes the stage, the host is the director, and the star of the show - Matalan’s homeware collection, of course.

At the heart of the campaign is a TVC that brings this idea to life, focusing on Matalan’s homeware collection for the first time. The advert follows a lead character - the 'director' of her own Christmas show - as she adds the finishing touches to her home with cinematic flair. Everyday actions, from dressing a child’s bedroom to setting a dazzling dining table, are elevated into a high-energy performance, capturing the excitement of those final moments before guests arrive.

“Christmas is such a wonderful time of year – full of joy, excitement and those little moments of magic – and when our customers really go all out to create something special,” said Eilidh MacAskill, Marketing Director at Matalan. “‘It’s Showtime’, celebrates that amazing feeling of putting on the perfect festive show, whether that’s decorating the tree, setting the table or welcoming loved ones through the door. For the first time, our beautiful homeware collection takes centre stage, and it’s been so exciting to see it shine. We hope this campaign inspires everyone to create their own magical Christmas masterpiece at home.”

The campaign is also a key part of McCann’s pioneering new “Alt by Default” initiative, designed to address the significant accessibility gap in advertising for visually impaired audiences. Collaborating closely, McCann and Matalan worked with accessibility partners Cape and Voice Box to ensure audio description (AD) was integrated into the TVC from the very beginning – helping to set a new benchmark for inclusivity in advertising and making it more accessible to everyone.

Imogen Tazzyman, executive creative director at McCann Manchester, commented: “We know our woman loves Christmas. It truly is her showtime. And the Matalan product this year is showstopping. Bringing that excitement, anticipation, and celebration to life - with a little bit of festive magic sprinkled in - has been an absolute pleasure.

“We’re also proud that this campaign is part of our innovative ‘Alt by Default’ initiative. Translating a visual spectacular into audio description that delights and entertains every member of the audience has been a brilliant brief - but it’s one not enough brands are committing to yet. So, we’re thrilled that together with Matalan, we are able to continue making a meaningful impact in driving greater inclusivity in advertising.”

Launching during last night’s final of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 (4th November), "It's Showtime" will feature a hero spot as well as be rolled out across social channels.