For the holiday season this year, Debenhams launched a fairytale holiday campaign that's centered around the idea that "#YouShall find the perfect gift for your fairytale Christmas at Debenhams."
The #YouShall ad is a modern retelling of the story of Cinderella, which has been done many times before, but Debenhams put a social media-inspired spin on the classic tale. The Christmas story begins with a couple meeting for a moment on a train, but the woman hurries to get off at her stop and loses her bejewelled heel in the process. Both the man and women begin their own social media campaigns with #FindMyShoe and #FindThatGirl. Eventually, the pair does meet again and as with every good fairy tale, it has a feel-good happy ending.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Social Media-style Holiday Campaigns
- With the success of Debenhams' #YouShall campaign, there is an opportunity for companies to utilize social media-inspired storytelling to promote their holiday products.
- Modern Fairytale Retellings
- As Debenhams has shown, updating classic tales for a modern audience can be a successful and engaging marketing strategy during the holiday season.
- Interactive Customer Engagement
- Debenhams' campaign featuring a social media campaign with hashtags creates an opportunity for companies to involve customers in the marketing process in a fun and engaging way.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Retail
- Debenhams' holiday campaign demonstrates the potential for retailers to embrace modern fairytales and utilize social media campaigns to promote products in an engaging way.
- Advertising
- The success of Debenhams' campaign highlights the potential for advertising agencies to incorporate modern storytelling and social media-inspired campaigns for their clients during the holiday season.
- Entertainment
- The popularity of modern retellings of classic fairytales creates an opportunity for the entertainment industry to produce more adaptations for modern audiences.
