Very Invites Families to Daydream Their Way to an Early Christmas

Daydreaming, created by The Gate, urges families to start Christmas shopping early, showcasing a wide toy range and flexible payment options to ease festive spending

By Creative Salon

02 October 2024

Very is encouraging families to kick off their Christmas shopping early with its latest toys campaign, ‘Daydreaming.’ With research showing that over three-fifths of people start thinking about Christmas in October, the retailer aims to help parents secure gifts ahead of the festive rush while also offering flexible payment options to spread the cost.

New consumer research being released by Very reveals half of parents are planning to spend more on toys this Christmas than in 2023. And, when it comes to prioritising Christmas shopping, almost two thirds of Very’s customers say they buy gifts for children first, with the retailer’s sales for toys increasing by 67 per cent, on average, in October when compared to September 3.

Jessica Myers, chief customer officer at The Very Group, which operates Very, said: "We are thrilled to launch our ‘Daydreaming’ campaign, centred around our ‘Let’s Make It Sparkle’ proposition. We know how important Christmas is to our families and our latest toys campaign showcases an array of the most anticipated and popular toys and brands for 2024, curated by our category specialists. Plus, to bring the campaign to life even further, we will be making our first foray into merchandising our brand characters with the launch of two plushies, including the star of this campaign, Coral the flaminglet.

“Here at Very, we’re passionate about making Christmas the most magical time possible for customers, and our insights show our families plan early, so we want to help celebrate and enable that sense of joy ahead of the festive period.”

For this reason, the new campaign, crafted by The Gate, gives parents a preview of the great range of toys Very has, while helping families avoid the festive rush and secure gifts early. And to make things even easier, the new campaign references how Very offers flexible payment options through Very Pay. This allows families to spread the cost of Christmas, including this year’s top toys, and manage their finances with greater flexibility.

The campaign, which has been developed in collaboration with The Gate, is the latest in Very’s ‘Let’s Make It Sparkle’ brand platform and follows on from the success of campaigns featuring Very's flamingo fluent devices Kerry, Cherry and Terry.

Antonio Gizzonio and Maisie Willis, creative directors at The Gate, said: ”The brief was to communicate that Very sell an array of brilliant toys while cutting through the abundance of toys adverts which are pushed out over the festive period. “Daydreaming” unapologetically does that; whilst still being incredibly creative and playful. We’ve gone inside the imagination of loveable Coral and seen how children daydream - who’d have thought flamingos like Charli XCX?”

‘Daydreaming’ tells the story of Coral, the young flaminglet and daughter of Cherry who has appeared in previous adverts. Coral is shown drifting off into a daydream about her favourite toys. The campaign cleverly remasters 'Boys' from pop icon Charli XCX, to playfully land messaging focusing on Very’s 'toys' range. For the first time, the campaign integrates real product imagery within the animated world, making the shopping experience feel even more tangible, and showcasing the products in their true form.

The campaign features a hero 30" TV advert, along with 3 20” supporting product ads, bespoke to some of the most renowned toy brands, produced by Nexus Studios with director Paloma Baeza. The campaign will run across TV, VOD, radio, digital, and social media in the UK and Ireland. Media planning and buying was handled by Zenith.