Sainsbury's - Christmas in a Day – The real story of Christmas

In 2013, facing increased competition from growing competitors, Sainsbury’s were determined to deliver their best ever Christmas results. Instead of increasing total media spend on conventional advertising, Sainsbury’s invested in a content driven campaign: ‘Christmas in a Day’. Using footage filmed and submitted by the public through YouTube, filmmaker Kevin MacDonald created a long form film about how Britain really celebrates Christmas, which formed the backbone of the campaign. The campaign launch was treated like a film launch, with brand TV ads using the most engaging, amusing and moving footage to involve people in the story and give viewers a taste of the full length film. ‘Christmas in a day’ delivered £70m incremental profit (30% higher than 2012), 5.2% growth at a time when all main competitors stalled or went backwards, and a ROMI of 3.98, which was 26% more effective than in 2012.