A Young Girl Embarks on the Ultimate Gift Giving Journey in Boots Christmas Ad

Today, Boots releases its 2023 festive marketing campaign, titled ‘Thank you, Santa.’ 

The campaign is centred around a festive film that reminds viewers that there is a present for everyone at Boots.  

The Christmas film, a version of which will be used as a TV advert, tells the story of a young girl and her mum making a journey to the North Pole to show Santa how much they appreciate him by giving him a gift. Armed with a Boots shopping bag filled with gifts, the pair embark on an epic journey together, from the local high street to the snow-capped landscapes of the North Pole. On their travels, kind strangers help them on their way, and, in return for their generosity, the girl gifts a special item from Boots to show their appreciation. From a Dyson Airwrap for the pilot, to a Benefit Volumizing Mascara for the train conductor, by the time they reach Santa, they have just the one gift left.....a pair of Boots Travel Flight Socks, perfect for the big journey ahead of him. 

At Boots, there are presents for everyone and every budget; nearly 50% of its seasonal gift range is priced at £10 or less, plus customers can snap up amazing deals all season long, with the much-loved Star Gift programme, biggest ever Black Friday and more Price Advantage offers than ever before.  

Pete Markey, chief marketing officer, Boots comments, “At Boots, we want to help customers to give joy this Christmas and to celebrate the people who deserve to be appreciated; family, friends, colleagues, or anyone in the local community who have made a difference to their lives this year. Christmas is the perfect time to express our gratitude to others and with our extensive range of great value gifts and amazing offers, Boots really does have something to help make everyone in your life feel valued this Christmas.” 

Directed by award-winning director Sam Brown and set to the soundtrack ‘I’m Gonna Get There Somehow’ by Val Doonican, the advert will air for the first time on ITV this Friday evening, 3rd November. It is a fully integrated campaign running for seven weeks across TV, radio, cinema, OOH, print, social, digital, in-store and online. The advert will also run during the Heart Breakfast Radio Show, as part of its long-term partnership with Boots, and on Disney+ as Boots becomes an official launch partner for the channel throughout November.   

To provide confidence that customers would love the film, Boots used System One, a platform that measures emotional responses to adverts and predicts how customers will react, at each stage of its development, from early scripts and storyboards right through to the finished film. The results were very strong, falling within the top 5% of all adverts tested. 

The Boots Christmas campaign was developed in partnership with its advertising agency at The Pharm, the WPP partnership team dedicated to WBA.  

Sarah Bamford, creative partner, The Pharm comments, “This year, our Boots Christmas campaign is about rediscovering the joy in giving. In our film, we look at gifting through the eyes of an innocent child, and we discover that giving is not about finding the most perfect or most expensive present, it’s about the heart that lies behind each gifting moment.”

Christmas has already launched in stores and online at boots.com and includes the arrival of the much-anticipated Boots Gift Guide. For the first time this year, Boots is offering a shoppable version, with customers able to take a picture of a gift they’d like to buy and via a QR code from the Gift Guide, link directly to the relevant page on boots.com, making it easier for customers to instantly do their Christmas shopping.  

Boots is also proud to announce The Hygiene Bank as its Christmas charity partner. As part of this commitment, Boots will donate 100,000 essential hygiene products to the charity, helping to provide over 20,000 people with a basic care package this Christmas. Additionally, throughout November and December, Boots will double its ‘You Donate – We Donate’ pledge meaning that the more customers donate in the 700 donation points across the UK, the more Boots will donate, estimated to result in a further 20,000 products for the charity. 

The Hygiene Bank will also receive support through new innovation introduced into the Christmas campaign for this year. Boots is introducing a new media partnership with 'We are 8', a sustainable media platform that allows customers to earn rewards for watching videos that support social and environmental causes. Throughout December, it will feature creatives focused on driving awareness of The Hygiene Bank, with 4% of the total media spend on this platform donated to the charity, as well as 1% carbon offset donation.