Even Santa Needs a Break from Christmas, in McDonald’s newest ad

The festive season is just around the corner, and whilst the season brings a lot of joy, the holiday period can also bring a lot of stress. That’s why, this year, McDonald’s wants people to know it’s there for them. The fast-food chain’s newest ad showcases the irresistible lure of a Big Mac, inviting the nation to ask friends, family, and co-workers if they “Fancy a McDonald’s” this season. The creative is a departure from McDonald’s longstanding “Reindeer Ready” Christmas work, which sought to build an emotional connection with audiences.

Lack of representation in ads causes disengagement in much of the UK audience

Advertisers risk disengaging much of the UK, by failing to depict diverse and appropriate representation in their ads, according to research from Spark Foundry. Spark Foundry’s Insights Accelerated Report, which covers the third quarter of 2023, found that 57% of the UK said they disengaged from media and ads if they felt they were unrepresentative, with this percentage rising significantly for underrepresented communities.

Stuffed with creativity

C4 joins the Club(card)

After Channel 4 announced its most successful year yet across their VOD platform, they have now improved their overall package even further, by adding Tesco Clubcard data to customer targeting. As it has already obtained Nectar and Boots advantage cards, this will add an extra 14.4 million users to its data collection. This is a huge win for Channel 4, as this decreases the likelihood of any advertising wastage across clients’ VOD campaigns, allowing advertisers to deliver their strategy to extremely specific audiences. This deal is a key addition to Channel 4’s Future4 strategy, which aims to bolster its data-driven targeting offering.

Earnings seasons project more of the same in 2024 for advertising

As most people’s eyes turn towards Christmas decorations and Christmas adverts, those immersed in media have been captivated by the dynamic movements of the financial markets this week, with the earnings season taking centre stage. Whilst 88% of reporting companies have surpassed the estimates of experts, the major broadcasters operating in the UK have posted mixed results.

For example, ITV posted its results last week, which subsequently led to a drop in its stock price to its lowest value since last year. Despite this drop, the UK broadcaster did better than anticipated when considering the difficulties within the current advertising market. On the other hand, Disney also revealed a fall in ad revenue across both streaming and TV. The revenue loss across their streaming platforms was driven by Hulu, which is having a bit of a moment now that the platform sits entirely in Disney’s hands. Lastly, Warner Bros Discovery has seen a 12% decrease in ad revenue on its TV networks, however, this insight was offset by an impressive 30% increase in its streaming services in Q3.

2024 is set to be a remarkably interesting year in Adland as brands and consumers battle the cost-of-living crisis. Whilst an end to this tumultuous period is not within reach, there is a bit of hope that in 2024 things will bounce back to some sort of normality.

No sign of JCDecaux hitting the buffers with rail OOH deal

In OOH media owner news, JCDecaux has bolstered its National Rail offering by securing the contract of First Rail, operator of Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, and South Western Railway. This three-year contract brings most of the UK Rail advertising under JCDecaux, with a further 390 stations added to their current offering. This will bolster their share of Rail frames up to 71%, accounting for 83% of impressions. The domination of JCDecaux within the rail space may prove difficult for future pricing due to their monopoly within this space.