• Consumers want a bargain on products they’ll enjoy using, so when it comes to retail, be sure to offer a discount in the headline and show the product in use. 

• For food and beverage brands, including a discount in the headline and target gifting language. As for creative, keep it simple and only showcase the product. 

• Travel brands benefit from seasonal callouts and aspirational headlines. This is an excellent opportunity to include beautiful lifestyle imagery. And the same works for brands in the home industry. 

• Lastly, for health and fitness campaigns, less is more, so stick to targeted gifting language and a discount in the headline.

Communication & Image Differentiation by HHII

TripleLift found that, overall, consumers respond to offers and discounts, and prefer seeing the logo in the image in addition to the product. However, when different income segments are considered individually, it is possible to see more specific preferences, allowing advertisers to more accurately target their creative. 

Communication & Image Differentiation by Demographic

But HHI isn’t the only variable that can inform a successful campaign. Let’s look at how consumers from different age groups respond to various creative formats. Consumers aged 45 and up prefer seeing the product in use, while Gen Z consumers like holiday season callouts. Regardless of income, a discounted offer in the headline resonates with everyone. Who doesn’t love a deal?

Aligning Creative for Maximum Impact - UK Holiday Shopper Consumer Industry Insights

Aligning your creative to success within your industry is key to delivering maximum impact. So, let’s take a look at how variables such as timing and headlines interact with specific industries in the UK.

Buying Time by Industry

Timing is everything, so when it comes to reaching your audience when they’re most likely to take action is key. For example, the home industry has more success in mid October than mid November, but the reverse is true for the travel industry. In other words, it’s important to understand how time and industry interact in order to maximize the efficiency of your campaign.

Headline Communication Preferences by Industry

Aside from the home industry, whether it’s an early shopper, or one that prefers to take their time, consumers all resonate with headlines containing a discount offer. Like we said before: who doesn’t love a good deal?  No matter the shopper's stage, they all respond to targeted gifting messages in the food and beverage category. As for retail, discounts at any shopper stage also resonate with discounted offers. Health and fitness also benefit from target gifting and discounts, whereas travel should always aim to have an aspirational tone and holiday season callout. The upshot? Deals and discounts are a pretty safe bet.

Image Differentiation by Industry

It’s not just headlines that can benefit from industry-specific consideration. Imagery can also be maximized for specific industries. Lifestyle images outperform other styles in the Travel and Home industries. Food and beverage images benefit from keeping it simple, with text, logo, and product only. For retail, showcasing the product in use to early or cyber-week shoppers has the potential to be the final draw to get them to convert. And when it comes to health and fitness, showing the product is good unless the target consumer is a late shopper, in which case, showing them the product in action helps to differentiate it from the competition

UK Black Friday Shoppers by Demographic

Taking advantage of Black Friday is critical for a successful holiday campaign. Below are actionable insights advertisers need to consider when formulating their holiday strategy. 

Pathway to Purchasing:

• Age 18-41 One-Click Checkout

• Age 42+ Click-and-Collect

Creative Preferences

• Age 18-24: Offer Brand in the headline

• Men: Stronger performance during Black Friday

UK Boxing Day Shoppers by Demographic

While far less impactful in the U.S., Boxing Day plays a major role in U.K.holiday advertising. The following are key insights for a successful campaign. 

Key Stats:

• Under £30K-44,999: Offer (Discount) Holiday Season Callout

• Higher Income Earners: Logo on Image / Product Only

• Women: Stronger performance during Boxing Day

• 32% of UK consumers' top concern is avoiding crowds.

• 21% of UK consumers' top concern is quick delivery.

US Holiday Creative & Audience Cheat Sheet

Let’s move to the U.S. Just because we speak the same language as our cousins across the pond doesn’t mean we should use the same Holiday insights.     

Headline Communication & Image Preferences by Industry

For the US, headlines should include the brand for retail, home, food and beverage. Targeted gifting should be considered for food and beverage, travel, health and fitness. Be sure to showcase the product in use for retail and travel and only the product in food and beverage, health and fitness. 

Communication & Image Differentiation by HHI

 Most American consumers prefer having a brand in the headline with a discounted offer and seeing the product in use with a logo to accompany it. However, those in the $25K-$74.9K, prefer seeing an image and text rather than the product in use. 

Communication & Image Differentiation by Demographic   

For ages 18-34, the tendency goes towards having the brand in the headline and product use. Ages 25 and up prefer having a discounted offer. There’s a tendency for women to prefer targeted gifting and seeing the product in use, whereas men prefer a discounted offer and seeing text on the image.

Aligning Creative for Maximum Impact - U.S. Holiday Shopper Consumer Industry Insights

Reaching your target audience when they’re shopping and buying maxmizes the impact of your creative. Certain industries garner more attention depending on the time of the year, so timing and creative alignment are critical for accessing key audiences when they’re most likely to spend.

Buying Time by Industry

When it comes to timing, the U.S. market is a little more uniform than the United Kingdom. In fact, all industries measured, from travel to food and beverage see their highest success around the midway point of October, decline from there until a slight uptick at the start of December. One exception to this trend is the home category which also has its highest success around the midway point of October, but see a small uptick in late November and decline into December. 

Headline Communication Preferences by Industry

The effectiveness of headline messaging differs based on industry. For retail, depicting the brand in the headline is key. For health and fitness, having targeted gifting works best. Consider a discounted offer for early and cyber-week shoppers regarding food and beverage. And no matter the shopper stage, a holiday season or aspirational offer works best.

Image Differentiation by Industry

Similar to headlines, the performance of certain image formats varies by industry. For retail, show the product in use no matter the buyer stage. For health and fitness, use the product only, and be sure to always include the logo on the image for home decor, as well as for food and beverage. Regarding travel, showcasing the lifestyle or product in use is your best bet. 

US Black Friday Shoppers by Demographic

Changing up your message based on who you’re trying to reach can have a big impact on ad performance.  Here’s a few tips and tricks for setting up creative that will resonate.

Key Stats:

• Under $25K: Offer (Discount)

• Higher Income Earners: Logo on Image

• Age 18-24: Brand in headline / Product in Use

• Age 35-64: Offer (Discount) / Brand in Headline

To create a sense of clarify during the busiest season for advertising, check out our advertiser’s guide to holiday spend here.