Asda goes for Christmas realism with stressed mum ad

By Matthew Chapman, campaignlive.co.uk, Monday, 05 November 2012 09:56AM

Asda's Christmas campaign shows the "real story" of how mums prepare for Christmas, rather than the "idealistic and unattainable" scenarios usually portrayed.

Asda: campaign ad focuses on how mums cope with Christmas

The campaign includes a 60-second TV spot that shows a mum experiencing the challenges in staging the event, from struggling to get the Christmas tree in the car, to untangling the knot of Christmas tree lights.

Asda claims the campaign represents its first Christmas brand advertising campaign and hopes the humorous campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi will "capture the hearts" of mums.

Creative from the ad states, "It doesn't just happen by magic. Behind every great Christmas, there's mum. And behind her, there's Asda".

Kate Stanners, executive creative partner at Saatchi & Saatchi, said the creative was designed to acknowledge how mums "always put everything and everyone before themselves, expecting nothing back other than a contented silence on Christmas afternoon".

Asda's focus on mums comes after it was revealed that rival Morrisons was axing former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff from its advertising, in order to have a "mum-focused" Christmas strategy.

The Asda ad is shot to a speeded-up version of the traditional Christmas carol 'Silent Night', in order to reflect the "excitement" of mums.

Towards the end of the ad, the music slows down to reveal a typically British Christmas day featuring the family relaxing in front of the TV, representing the pinnacle of a mum's work.

Stephen Smith, chief marketing officer, Asda, claimed the supermarket canvassed thousands of mums and "nothing made it into the ad, unless it was real insight from real experiences".

The TV brand ad, shot by Ric Cantor of Outsider, is the centrepiece of a bigger integrated three-month Christmas campaign that will highlight the different ways Asda can help mums this Christmas.

Media was planned and bought by Carat.

The brand campaign is being supported by tactical spots about the 'Click & Collect'  service and advice on how to maximise a budget.

In total, there will be around 25 vignettes that make up the campaign from a total of 70 shot, including one scene showing the grandma reading erotic thriller 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.

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This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk