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[Who stole Christmas] Andrada Ionescu: The year 2020 added quite a bit of holiday excitement

People fondly remember times when they used to play Secret Santa at the office. Or the times they sat in their slippers all day at the office. It happens to Andrada Ionescu, Digital Strategist at Minio Studio, during Saint Nicholas’ Day. She says it’s her fondest holiday memory in the agency, because they also gave presents to children. And from the Christmas parties she still fondly remembers the next day’s hangover. It’s so cool to be a grown-up. After all, it’s a simple trade: you give up the childish idea that there is a Santa Claus, but you turn into one yourself. Because you give presents. And on this occasion you also realize how well you know the people around you, especially since they’re all a little different than every other year:

 

What’s the situation with Christmas campaigns this year?

What campaigns are you preparing? What’s different from other years (budgets, timing)? How have you planned the production?

This year we generally focused on digital campaigns, so the Christmas communication also fell into this category. I think compared to last year, at least, things did not seem as certain all round, not knowing exactly how the situation will be over the festive period in terms of the evolution of the pandemic. Otherwise, we tried to stick to the same basic rules we would have followed anyway, in terms of brainstorming, concept creation, material development, production, etc.

 

How did you get into the festive mood this year? What helped? How does Christmas feel this year?

Personally, I’ve been in the festive mood since October J) and colleagues knew this stuff well because I used to annoy them with Christmas songs at the office. This year, however, the carols just served me right and helped me hang in there until the holidays. And since everything was different in 2020, one thing to point out here would be the Christmas party that also moved to Zoom and didn’t resemble our usual events at all. Basically we played online games and instead of the agency Christmas video each year, we made individual videos where we each told how we got through this tough year and what our hopes for 2021 were. We laughed. A lot J) Ah, not to mention we got our presents via mail. #christmasreams

 

When did the first Christmas request/brief come in this year?

I don’t remember exactly, mostly because this year felt like one big never ending day. I lost track of the months and I honestly think I’m somewhere around July. What I can say, however, is that we’ve been working since summer on a Christmas campaign for 2021 and we also started working on Easter campaigns around that time. Not to mention V-day and the 8th of March 2021 which we seem to have been working on since last Christmas. J) I’m obviously joking, but we all know that the holidays feel different in agencies because at Easter you’re working for Christmas and vice versa.

 

What’s it like working on a campaign for Christmas during the pandemic? Are there any special requests? What are the challenges?

I believe that the work we do for Christmas should capture the excitement of this holiday context and have people take time out of their day to watch your ad. The kind of campaign that people talk about randomly over beer (on Zoom, of course). And 2020 added quite a bit to the excitement for the Holidays. People are tired, frustrated, fed up with the challenges they’ve had to face over the past 9 months and what they’re missing now is exactly the “Hey, Santa’s coming, let’s pretend everything’s okay and this year was just like any other year before” ad. Especially since we all know that even though 2020 is coming to an end, the pandemic story will continue into 2021. So, again we must face uncertainty, stress, anxiety for you and your loved ones. So, even though it’s important to remember the context when communicating, for this year’ Christmas, this aspect was crucial. And when I say context, I believe we must consider a few things here, too. I believe that 2020 should be looked at in micro moments and not just holistically, because, yes, it’s a tough year, but we need to be aware that it’s not April anymore and people are fed up of hearing the same “everything will be fine, we’re a family, *shrug*”. I believe that balance is the key and, from my point of view, people need a realistic message, which is neither overly emotional, nor something pulled out of another year. And if I were to give an example of what I find appropriate in the current context, I believe humor is the answer. A break from this tough year, a break filled with good content, be it even advertising.

 

How does the creative process differ for Christmas campaigns?

I don’t think it differs so much. As I said above, I think all campaigns need a good context, valuable insights and good execution. But for Christmas campaigns, you specifically need to capture the excitement of the period, and, in my opinion, a good campaign doesn’t leave you feeling that it really wanted to sell you something, it’s more about the atmosphere than the product. The brand needs to bring something into the consumer’s everyday world, not just walk uninvited into their home on Christmas.

 

What’s the coolest memory (yours or your agency’s) related to Christmas?

The end of the year was very sweet in 2019 and I remember with nostalgia what it was like working in the agency pre-covid. I loved that for Saint Nicholas’ Day all of us wrapped gifts for hearing-impaired children from a school in Bucharest and attended their end-of-year party, and afterwards we spent the day in our slippers at work and left our boots at the door for so we could leave presents for each other inside them. I think this is perhaps the most touching memory I have at Minio during the holidays. And of course, the Christmas party that now makes me remember how much I miss a good hangover at the office J).

 

What international Christmas campaigns have you enjoyed the most? (this year or all time favorites)

Honestly, December was pretty chaotic so until I wrote the article, I hadn’t really gotten to enjoy what was produced this year. But I’ve selected a few that I really liked and I think they highlight exactly what I was saying a Christmas campaign should include – the kind of ads that you look at fondly because they’re cool and funny, or that are just really cute and you want to share on your feed for others to see.

 

That idea that’s proposed as a fudge and that “the customer definitely doesn’t choose”:

Category “aww” and good use of music:

Another award for infinite cuteness:

This is from a series of 3 where I thought the insight was very cool and a good fit in the context of Christmas this year:

This one may not score tremendously on context, but I think it sticks in my head because of the music and “those cute kids singing together”:

My old time fav:

 

Source : IQads