Four simple-to-use archetypes for your Christmas strategies

Christmas will be here soon! Though the holiday still makes us dream, it doesn’t have much to do with what we knew as children. And there’s good reason! It’s being celebrated in as many different ways as there are homes, and it’s still being reinvented. 

Christmas is a critical sales period for many brands. Understanding the different ways consumers approach the holidays helps businesses adapt their offer and communication by including the right values, emotions, and stories. Here are four simple-to-use archetypes to sharpen your end-of-year strategies (for 2022 if you’re quick off the mark or 2023 if you like to plan ahead).

A traditional Christmas

For many people, Christmas is – and will always be – a chance to bring together many generations of the same family around a beautiful table and a good meal. Foie gras, oysters, turkey with chestnuts, a Yule log, and other traditional dishes come, one after the other, in elegant dishes surrounded by candles and candelabras. The Christmas tree is dripping with tinsel and red and green balls, and the nativity scene testifies to the holiday’s religious heritage. The traditional Christmas will be around for a long time.

A slow Christmas 

For other people, Christmas is a time for resting, soothed by the magic of snow and cold and sweet moments shared with dear ones. In this rustic-chic cocoon in beige and white with Scandinavian influences, the mood is relaxed, and gifts are eco-correct: certified, local, handmade or second hand, and wrapped in reusable bags. In a world increasingly aware of social and environmental problems, we’re simply trying to be more virtuous, without necessarily opposing all the Christmas traditions. We’re taking care of others, the planet … and ourselves.

A Christmas with a family of choice 

Sometimes relationships with family members can be complicated. After too many arduous family gatherings, we don’t want to force ourselves any more. More and more people are deciding to celebrate Christmas with their family … of choice. Some choose drinks and a buffet table, or a secret Santa and an ugly Christmas sweater contest in a colorful, casual setting with no hassle involved. Others prefer organizing a chic affair and getting dressed up for the occasion. For them, sequins, glitter, a disco ball, verrines, and glasses of champagne are what’s needed.

A boycotted Christmas 

“No, Christmas is now only a money-making scheme.” That comment might be slightly hipster, but it’s understandable. For many people, buying gifts is a stressful undertaking (expensive, too many people in stores, giving gifts because you have to …). And the family dinner, peppered with pointless arguments and unkind remarks, is another reason to burn bridges. So there are a lot of people who either no longer celebrate Christmas or avoid its traditional version. They might have to put a little money aside, but it’s worth it, since picnics and barbeques on an Antilles beach and cocktails in the shade of palm trees could soon replace petit-fours and annoying uncles.