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Christmas Gumtree AdVENT

adVENT: There’s too much food on that table

December 20, 2013 | 4 min read

It's Christmas, in case you hadn't noticed, and while cheer, joy and goodwill to all men is being spread far and wide, everyone has a little grumble at this time of year as well. The Drum has invited some of those heading up some of the UK's finest media and marketing communications companies to share their pet hates that annoy them in their jobs at this time of year, albeit with tongue firmly in cheek.

Sam Diamond, head of brand and communications for Gumtree

Sam Diamond, head of brand and communications at Gumtree.com is the latest to climb aboard the adVENT soapbox.

Anyone seen a supermarket TV ad this Christmas? Of course you have.

That’ll be the one with the glorious dining table laden with goodies. The huge steaming turkey, an overflowing gravy boat, fresh mince pies, litres of bubbly, Christmas cake, crackers, the lot. Around the table, an average British family having the time of their lives. The lighting is soft, the bells are ringing. And it’s snowing, of course.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love a Christmas table full of food as much as the next man. But if the scenario above all sounds a bit predictable, then we marketers have an issue. I find that this year, more than ever, it has become almost impossible to distinguish between some retailers’ Christmas adverts. Too many of them are playing it safe, and as a result, they’re all merging into the same homogenous, forgettable pile of mush.

Christmas is the time of year when brands typically spend their biggest money. It’s a chance to show the world how they are different from their competitors. But despite all the extra cash and months of nervous energy, we still see a bunch of vanilla campaigns with very little difference from last year or the year before that. Do you reckon you could remember Tesco’s advert from Morrisons or Lidl's or Asda’s? I can’t.

But, it’s not all bad news. And the plaudits go for those bold enough to do something unique. I took my kids to meet the Hare and the Bear last week, and sure enough, I ended up buying a couple of gifts thanks to the months of hard work from the team at John Lewis. Sainsbury’s has invested heavily in user-generated content and created a whole movie centred on the magic of Christmas. They’ve done a beautiful job of defining the essence of Christmas: silly family rituals, drunken uncles dancing, that sort of thing. And not just a saccharine pastiche of what a picture-postcard Christmas should look like.

At Gumtree.com, we’re aware that we’re not high on people’s consideration list in the pre-Christmas rush. And that’s cool.

But that’s why we’ve been concentrating on the things that make our brand proposition unique. For instance, through December we promote ourselves as the home of quirky secret Santa gifts under £20 - and then pipe up again on Boxing Day in case anyone has any unwanted gifts that they’d like to turn into cash. It’d be easy to be cheesy and follow the market, but I’d prefer to stick to our values any day.

So, I’ll end my vent with a plea to brand owners: for Christmas 2014, think harder about explaining who you are, rather than what you sell. As Del Boy will no doubt say this Christmas, “He who dares, wins.”

Until then, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Gumtree.

Yesterday, David Spon-Smith, head of agency sales for The Guardian, offered his main gripes about the Christmas season.

Christmas Gumtree AdVENT

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