How Brands Should Really Be Planning Christmas Campaigns
What happens when you start planning Christmas… in April?
In this episode of That’s What I Call Marketing, Conor Byrne is joined by Pete Markey (former CMO of Boots, Marketing Week Marketer of the Year) and Leanne Tomasevic (Insights Lead at Electric Twin) to explore how brands should approach Christmas advertising — using real-time synthetic audience insights.
Instead of guessing what consumers want, this episode puts Electric Twin’s platform to the test live, revealing how marketers can simulate audience reactions, test ideas, and sharpen creative briefs months before campaigns go live.
The result is a grounded, practical look at:
If you’re working on a Christmas campaign, brand strategy, or creative development, this is a genuinely useful watch.
00:00 – The reality of planning Christmas in April
01:10 – What Electric Twin actually does (synthetic audiences explained)
03:00 – Why speed matters in modern marketing decision-making
05:30 – Live demo: Understanding the mood of the nation at Christmas
08:30 – What consumers really want this year (family, realism, restraint)
12:00 – Gifting trends: practicality vs meaningful connection
14:30 – The balance between storytelling and selling
16:00 – What people want from Christmas ads now
18:00 – Should brands use celebrities? (and when it works)
21:00 – The role of consistency (Kevin the Carrot, John Lewis, Coca-Cola)
24:00 – Realism vs escapism in Christmas creative
27:00 – How agencies can use this to build stronger briefs
29:00 – The most memorable Christmas ads and why they last
32:00 – Should brands reuse ads instead of making new ones?
33:00 – Why music is critical to Christmas advertising effectiveness
35:30 – Final thoughts: faster insight, better decisions
That’s What I Call Marketing features conversations with leading marketers, CMOs, and industry thinkers — focused on how marketing actually works in practice.
If you’re working on Christmas 2026 right now, get in touch with Electric Twin