The best Christmas ever would have to be an Alice in Wonderland style adventure experienced by a child, wouldn’t it? It would be whimsical, astonishingly beautiful and exceptionally exciting.

Asda has presented its Best. Christmas. Ever., created by the imagination of Saatchi & Saatchi. It takes place in Asda’s fantastical Christmas workshop, The Imaginarium.

The campaign launched with the 60 second hero spot on Sunday, November 5, in the UK – on ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 simultaneously.

With its soundtrack, Don’t Stop, by Fleetwood Mac, and its gorgeous imagery, the campaign aims to catch shoppers up in the enthusiasm of the lead-up to Christmas and remind them that they don’t have to compromise on providing a most magical Christmas experience.

Eilidh Macaskill, Asda vice president creative and media, explained, “By combining CGI animation and some spectacular real life venues, the ad and the wider campaign is a love letter to our customers and products.”

Four 30 second ads will be added to the campaign over the festive period, which will reveal more mysteries of the Asda Imaginarium. These spots will focus on four key festive shopping moments, gifting, home decorations, parties & gatherings and “the big shop”.

Sara Rose, group creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi London, noted, “Although the campaign has a fantastical element to it, our stories are firmly rooted in what Asda has to offer shoppers this Christmas, from old favourites to inventive new treats like gin infused chocolates and massive Christmas puddings. Our first thought was “how do they come up with these things?” And the campaign just grew from there.”

The gifting film will also feature a panel of children selecting toys as either “fun” or “boring”, highlighting Asda’s Chosen by Kids range, where only little ones have a say in what makes the cut. Each of the 30 second spots will be supported on TV with 10 second ads that focus on the essential Christmas staples and highlight Asda’s affordable prices and deals. These will also be echoed in 6 second YouTube bumpers.

In a first for the retailer, Asda will create tailored Trueview videos, taking audience search terms and linking them thematically with relevant Asda messaging. These will bring contextual relevance to the 6 second YouTube Christmas bumpers, and will be supplemented with short-form 2 second content and carousel ads on Facebook.

The campaign will also feature a gamified Snapchat filter, where people can become the striped weightlifters from the ad.

Andy Murray, chief marketing officer at Asda, commented, “Earlier in the year we held sessions with our customers to get feedback on our Christmas range. As we talked to them about Christmas we could see how much joy and happiness planning their Christmas brought them – we knew we wanted to reflect that in our ad. When we saw their reactions to our food – the way it surprised them and made them smile – as well as the incredible pride and attention to detail our product developers had put into creating it, the inspiration for the Imaginarium was born.”

The campaign was directed by cinema duo, Los Pérez, at Blink. MPC worked on the special effects. It will also be supported by cinema, radio, print, DOOH and social.

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London

Global Chief Creative Officer: Kate Stanners

Group Creative Director: Sara Rose

Art Director: Cece Chu

Copywriter: Ryan Price

Designer: Teresa Goncalves

Planning Director: Paul Hackett

Account Handlers: Danny Josephs, Andy Chisholm, Jennie Gundill, Natasha Griffiths, Patrick Boyce & Walter Bayliss

Agency Producers: Maja Mcintosh & Georgie Ford

Media Agency: Blue 449

Production Company: Blink

Director: Los Perez

Production Company Producer: Ewen Brown

Editor: Joce Hockings

Producer: Zoe Hockings

Post-Production Company: MPC

VFX Supervisor: Bevis Jones

Producer: Annabel Bennett

Music Licensing: One More Music

Audio Post-Production Company: 750mph Ltd