Team M&S Romford & Friends - Maybe This Christmas Time - Ad Analysis
AI Editor notes
Straight from the gut!!
“This is a clever, modern play. Using a real employee who went viral on his own gives them earned credibility that money can't buy. It feels more grounded than the usual Christmas ad arms race. That said, at over two and a half minutes, it's asking a lot. The charm is there, but the execution feels more like a solid internal corporate video than a piece of breakthrough advertising.”
Quick Summary
By sidelining celebrities and putting a genuinely viral employee front and center, M&S crafted a Christmas campaign that trades high-gloss production for perceived authenticity. It’s a strategic pivot to capture the social media zeitgeist, using an employee-led music video to build brand warmth and drive a charity initiative, making the company feel more human and relatable.
Executive Summary
In the highly competitive arena of UK Christmas advertising, M&S took a notable detour in 2023. Instead of a high-concept, celebrity-filled blockbuster, they opted for something that felt more homegrown: a full-length music video starring their own employees. Led by Jack Remor of 'Team Romford,' a visual merchandiser who had already become a viral TikTok sensation, the 'Maybe This Christmas Time' campaign is a calculated move to trade cinematic polish for social media authenticity.
The core insight driving this work is that in today's media landscape, relatability is a powerful currency. The polished perfection of traditional advertising can feel distant, whereas content that feels user-generated or features 'real people' can foster a stronger, more genuine connection. By elevating one of their own, M&S positions itself not as a faceless corporation, but as a community of people, just like their customers, who are excited for Christmas.
The execution uses a Hook-Value-Proof-Ask framework tailored for a social audience. The hook is immediate and platform-native: we see Jack watching a vertical video of his colleagues dancing in the store, instantly signaling a connection to TikTok culture. The 'value' is the feel-good entertainment of the music video itself, a celebration of togetherness. The 'proof' is cleverly woven into the rap verse, which serves as a product catalogue set to a beat. Lines about 'Turkey with Stuffing,' 'gluten free and vegan' options, and the 'Percy Express' ground the joyful vibe in the tangible M&S offering. The mention of the brand's iconic tagline—'This is not just any song, this is M&S'—is a self-aware nod that solidifies the brand's ownership of the moment. The 'ask' is twofold: an explicit call to download the song for charity, and an implicit invitation to shop at M&S to create your own festive celebration. The visual style, a mix of clean studio shots and mock 'phone footage,' reinforces this hybrid of professional production and amateur authenticity.
The key takeaway for the M&S team is the power of leveraging internal assets. They discovered a star within their own ranks and built a campaign around him, generating a level of earned media and goodwill that a hired celebrity might not have achieved. It demonstrates a savvy understanding of modern media consumption. While the final product is perhaps too long to hold the attention of a casual viewer and lacks the narrative punch to become an all-time classic, it functions as a highly effective piece of brand-building. It successfully repositions M&S as a warm, authentic, and culturally-aware player in the Christmas rush.
Theme Keywords
Brand Position
The provider of high-quality, innovative food that fuels authentic, joyful moments of togetherness.
Brand Archetype
The Everyman
Creative Game Plan
Elevate our own viral TikTok star from the shop floor into a Christmas hero to prove the real magic of M&S is its people.
Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions
Primary Issue: Emotional Connection
The Problem:
The video is consistently cheerful but lacks a dynamic emotional arc. By staying in a single, upbeat register and a clean studio environment, it misses the opportunity to create a more profound, memorable feeling of warmth or poignancy that defines the most iconic Christmas ads.
The Solution:
Introduce a simple narrative element. For instance, start with Jack feeling a bit lonely or overwhelmed by the holiday rush in the store, and then have his colleagues rally around him to create the party. This would create a small story of connection and elevate the final celebration from just a performance to a meaningful emotional payoff.
Secondary Issue: Strategic Sense
The Problem:
The campaign's cleverness heavily relies on the audience having the backstory of Jack's TikTok fame. Without that context, the premise is weaker, and it just becomes a music video with store employees. The ad doesn't do enough to onboard the uninitiated viewer.
The Solution:
A simple on-screen text at the start, such as 'It started with a TikTok dance in Romford...' would have instantly given every viewer the necessary context to appreciate the 'real employee' angle, making the entire concept more powerful and inclusive.