Would you Airbnb the Home Alone house?

Brands are Back at it this Holiday Season

For the first time in two years, brands are entering the holiday season with a spring in their steps. According to a recent Deloitte study, sales are expected to increase by 7-9% from 2020 levels, with up to 15% growth in e-commerce.

That's got our favourite brands dusting off their most festive outfits for the 2021 season. The most common theme? Online & offline integration.

I know that sounds like the winning square in a game of buzzword bingo, but it's actually a big deal. It means many brands are finally realizing that there are no online audiences and offline audiences. There are only people, and we all exist in both worlds.

HERE ARE A FEW NOTABLE EXAMPLES

• Airbnb is sparking a bit of holiday nostalgia by opening the original Home Alone house for booking on its site. While the offering exists as a physical (offline) experience for the few groups who are lucky enough to book it, the storytelling and social content are the real hook of the campaign, which has earned them a ton of attention on YouTube, Instagram, and PR. See the listing here.
• Not to be outdone, Vacasa (a smaller Airbnb competitor) is offering nights in a real-life Grinch's Cave that, while significantly less luxurious than the McCallister's home, is earning a lot of attention among the travel and home design bloggers.
• Home Depot has taken a slightly different tact by neither confirming nor denying whether Santa actually shops at their Northern-most store, located in Fairbanks Alaska. The campaign takes place in the store and cleverly tells the story of their employees while giving people fun ways to engage with a retailer that they may otherwise overlook during the holiday season. Watch "Does Santa Shop Here?"
• Bombay Sapphire Gin has collaborated with artists, fashion designers, and dancers to create storefronts across New York that add a bit of creativity to the holiday season. Each display has a unique QR code that people can scan and then take into bars that Bombay has partnered with to redeem a free holiday cocktail.
• Etsy is looking to drive online sales by showing our digital purchases can drive real world emotions. In this series of videos, Etsy highlights the types of relationships and warm moments that are just now becoming possible again as we move about the world and interact with each other. The one gaining the most attention is a friendly shopkeeper who builds a friendship with a stranger by helping them with their bags as they board the bus.

It's a little late in the holiday season to be making changes to your plans, but I do think that we can look to this season's campaigns as inspiration to find simple ways to integrate our online and offline creative, and recognize that when we think about our audience as people who exist in both worlds, all of our work gets stronger.

Written by Conner Galway, Junction Consulting