Standing out in the holiday marketing madness can fee like climbing Everest! The sea of lights, snow-covered, well, everything and red and green galore is enough to swallow up any campaign quickly. The following ads have managed to stand tall in the holiday sea, and we’re here for it. The common thread behind all of these (and the guiding light behind all our marketing) is powerful storytelling. Let’s dive into what makes each of these special:

You’ve heard us talk about Story Loops before, and this ad opens and closes a story loop in one impactful graphic! It also evokes a few emotions for those “anxious cooks” out there, the key here is that KFC has positioned itself as the answer!

This ad does mimics the frameworks from the KFC ad, with a powerful anticipatory story loop, but it also makes you laugh (and cringe) - evoking emotions is a great way to be memorable. And you guessed it, Harvey Nichols is the solution to the problem here!

Props to Veet, they may have just won Christmas, with one clever, quick-witted visual story loop.

This little holiday ad by Heineken gets your imagination going with a flirty little story loop doesn’t it?

This video is a powerful example of introducing a main character with a problem, in a deeply emotional narrative. It pulls at your hearstrings (intentionally) with artful cinematography and storytelling. It shows you the path to resolution quite clearly as well with a clear call to action. BRB, excuse me while I go find a kettle to ring at . . .

This Tesco ad really understands the teenage “essence” - we love the oh so familiar story loop pictured here, paired with a humourous surrealist approach, it touches your heart and closes the loop with the right combination of humour, copy and cinematography.

I’m not crying, you’re crying! EDEKA brought it home with this heartfelt and memorable story that hits you right in the feelings.

Alright, enough of the sad ads, let’s wrap this up on a uplifting note with this John Lewis & Waitrose video. This sweet little Dragon is doing the BEST he can, OK!

To round up the theory behind all of these ads, there is a powerful narrative behind all of them that has been artfully unfolded. When you evoke emotions through story in your marketing you draw your audience into a narrative they want to know more about, this tension keeps pushing them to watch/read your ad or learn more. This is the essence of a story loop. Your audience will want to resolve that feeling and find out what the successful future may look like and how your brand is tied to it, or perhaps the answer. This is why we use story at the heart of everything we do.