WE RAISED THE BAR ON TESCO’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY SHOWCASE

THE CHALLENGE
Elevate Tesco’s Christmas in July showcase, moving away from an experience organised by product category to one that’s truly immersive and from which there is a consistent look and feel across all activity.

PEOPLE-FIRST INSIGHT
Christmas is still a long way off in July and it’s hard for journalists to get in the right frame of mind. They attend lots of Christmas in July events and get bored easily.

THE STORY
To anchor all our activity together and set the tone for the Christmas brand campaign later in the year, we first developed a look and feel that built on the popular wood cabin trend for 2016. The result was a Scandinavian ‘advent theme’ that had both functional and aesthetic applications across all design work involving the event and the product look book.

The advent theme at the Christmas In July showcase guided guests through several ‘customer moments’ bringing to life products by the occasions people would normally enjoy them. From festive parties to Christmas Day lunch, the advent numbers signposted each occasion, making it easy for journalists to navigate the event.

To ensure the showcase stood out from the start, we transported guests from of a hot summer’s day in London into a magical winter forest, complete with snow, for an instant injection of Christmas spirit. To keep guests engaged and entertained, helpful demonstrations took place throughout the event. From cake decorating classes to speed wrapping workshops, each acted to highlight the story of our products and reinforce the helpful character of the brand.

Tesco’s helpful nature was further reinforced with a premium Christmas look book that used the advent theme to call out handy top tips to make this Christmas magical. Overseeing all photography to ensure a consistent look and feel from start to finish, 50 hero food and drink lines and a wealth of general merchandise were shot to bring to life the Tesco Christmas offering.

THE OUTCOME

391 journalists attended of which 210 were from the National Media. 317 tweets - more than double previous year. 500 look books printed for media.