No Jingle Bells: Hip Hop, Electronic and Pop Make for Better Holiday Music
Most of us are enjoying the last of summer and starting to think about Halloween decorations, but the faint sound of Christmas bells is already starting to jingle somewhere in the distance.
But are those jingle bells really what we want to hear? When it comes to the sound of Christmas ads, there’s a prevailing assumption that what’s already known is what’s best, like a sentimental classic where every lyric is remembered year after year, recognisable from the very first note.
Recently, nostalgia has ruled the media and advertising waves. So it would make sense that advertisers would continue down the path of selecting big, known songs to score their Christmas campaigns instead of original sounds - right? Well, not exactly. New research from SoStereo, a music licensing company connecting real musicians with brands, has found that’s not the most effective strategy at all. And they have the data to prove it.
Looking at 140 ads, SoStereo were able to categorise holiday music in advertising into five categories: public domain holiday music; modern cover of public domain holiday music; custom holiday music; not too holiday music; and not holiday music.
Engagement: the common metric used for video analysis, based on views, likes, comments and reactions.
Music comments sentiment analysis: identifying which of the ad video comments are related to the music and the sentiment around it.
The results started to paint a picture that should make advertisers still thinking about what music to use in their campaigns in 2024 reconsider opting for pure nostalgia. ‘Not holiday music’ and ‘custom holiday music’ yielded the highest proportion of ‘very positive’ and ‘positive’ sentiments respectively, with diminishing returns when other types of music music were used.
This proportion of very positive sentiments demonstrates that disrupting tradition produces a better overall results in the minds of consumers used to hearing the same music choices again and again.
A similar trend is present when looking at the data through the lens of engagement. ‘Custom holiday music’ and ‘not holiday music’ are once again the categories that beat the others, both producing the highest rates of engagement, suggesting those ads pique far more interest and that, perhaps, everything else outside of the two categories is easy to ignore.
The data also breaks down the music by genre, looking at the popularity of varying ones, and further analysing the number of comments and the sentiment that each genre garners. We’re well and truly in the era of ‘poptivism’ (thank you Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Chapell Roan, et. al.) and the data shows that pop is by far the most popular genre gathering 32.1% of comments, with electronic coming in second at 12.8%, and hip hop in third with 10.6%. The sentiment distribution likewise follows this trend with pop receiving the biggest share of the most ‘very positive’ and ‘positive’ sentiments.
Looking at the rate of engagement data reveals an important insight for advertisers: opting for an unexpected sound in a holiday ad, like hip-hop, generates more engagement and positive reaction compared to something typically associated with holiday ads. Those ads also get more engagement compared to public domain holiday music-using ones. In general, the data is clear that consumers are most engaged by ‘custom holiday music’, while ‘not holiday music’ and ‘modern cover holiday music’ also prove engaging.
In 2022 the British retailer John Lewis - who is known for holiday ads that create cultural moments - opted for a cover of Blink 182’s ‘All The Small Things’ for 'The Beginner' spot, turning the well-known pop-punk anthem into a version that fit the mood and sentiment of the ad perfectly. In 2023, John Lewis used an operatic track performed by Andrea Bocelli, defying expectations while still tapping into holiday sentiments.
We can see from the data which brands are eliciting ‘very positive’ and ‘positive’ comments from consumers, and John Lewis comes in second. Interestingly, Amazon and Apple have no ‘negative’ comments and are known for interesting music choices like Apple’s 2018 ‘Share Your Gifts’ with an original track by Billie Eilish. Coca-Cola has the most positive music sentiments overall - the brand’s ‘Anyone Can Be Santa’ from last year, performed by Celeste, is a fresh approach to Christmas music subverting and building on tradition at once.
Think about how many times you’ve already heard ‘Jingle Bells’, and how many many more times you’ll hear it during the holiday season - its ubiquity means that hearing it won’t stick with consumers therefore making your ad forgettable. At a time when being memorable and standing out from the sea of brands vying for attention is vital, being forgettable is something brands can’t afford to be. Sure, musical shock for the value of shock is not a good strategy but creativity and originality are - the holiday season is often the most important one for brands so, this year, make that music count.
