Currys Puts Home Entertainment Tech to the Extreme Test for the Christmas Season

Currys, the UK’s largest electrical retailer, unveiled a new Christmas advertising campaign, featuring two new ads that put home tech through its festive paces.  

Created by AMV BBDO, with media planning and buying led by Spark Foundry, the new peak campaign continues the 'Ultimate Tech Tests' series where real-life colleagues showcase their expertise by putting tech to the test in entertaining ways, alongside famous faces. 

As customers get ready for the busiest shopping period of the year, these new ads from Currys remind them of the brand’s USP – real-life people with genuine tech knowhow. In previous films, celebrities such as the British comedians Ellie Taylor and Bill Bailey, and football experts and ex-players Jimmy Bullard and Jermaine Jenas have tested the products. 

This new campaign focuses on Christmas at home, highlighting in individual ads how in-home tech sits at the heart of festivities, elevating two key product ranges - LG OLED TVs  and Google Nest Hub. Each of the ads brings to life the brand mission of ‘helping everyone to enjoy amazing technology’, dramatising the lengths Currys goes to, to ensure it offers the  best possible tech to meet its customers’ needs.  

LG 

The LG execution showcases the amazing self-lit pixels of the LG OLED TV range and how the true to life colours could make it difficult to distinguish between what’s real and what’s on TV. The ad looks to convince an unsuspecting set of child testers that the view shown on a  

TV is actually a window. When Father Christmas himself turns up on screen will they believe it’s really him looking in? The ad also highlights a Currys promotion offering customers the chance to win their money back when they buy any LG OLED TV.

This multi-channel campaign runs across TV, VOD, audio and social in November, with linear TV acting as the centrepiece, and supported by VOD. TV and VOD will provide mass reach and fame, delivering around 300 TVRs across the month, with the first two weeks of November being upweighted to land the festive message. The campaign is also supported by broadcast and digital audio activity, which launched in late October and runs until December, delivering the message at scale. Sales-driving social activity targets a mixture of ABC1 adults with a broader tech-led creative.  

Google Nest 

The Google Nest execution showcases the smart capabilities of the range and its role in making Christmas tasks faster, testing to see if the tech can beat Olympic sprinter, Adam Gemelli, when it comes to turning on the Christmas lights, answering the door and playing music. This multi-channel campaign runs across VOD, Digital and Social with a 30 second VOD video kicking off the campaign, which runs from November through to late December. 

Throughout the festive period Currys is also running six second bumpers and 15 second non-skippable ad  formats across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to drive awareness and consideration. Digital display will increase awareness and traffic, positioning Google products as the ideal gift for the festive period. A 15 second animation format will mimic the high street shopping experience to showcase the entire range of google products.  

Corin Mills, head of brand and advertising, at Currys: “At Currys we want to help everyone enjoy amazing technology, and that includes teaching them about the great features of the products we sell, especially in the important moments like Christmas. Whether it’s a new OLED TV for watching a festive film or connecting up a  

Smart Hub to create the ultimate Christmas atmosphere, our real-life human experts are able to help tech buyers work out the right tech for them. These new Christmas ads  showcase this real-life expertise, building on media insights from last year and further evolving our ‘Ultimate Tech Test’ creative, making our colleagues and the tech they’re  experts in, the real stars of the show.” 

Rebecca Dorfman, managing partner at Spark Foundry: “The multi-channel approach, spearheaded by a front-weighted TV and video on demand strategy will deliver a real halo effect, ensuring Currys is front of mind in the large screen TV and smart speaker market during the build-up to Black Friday.”