Why streamers are winning Christmas

Tis officially the season. The season where every brand is trying to win the hearts and minds of consumers. “Owning Christmas” is the annual gauntlet of every brand and retailer, with marketing budgets and talent endorsement spend growing every year.

But for kids and teens it’s the streaming platforms who own Christmas. By dropping their Christmas movies and playlists, they have become the facilitators of festive family movie nights and created a clear brand role for themselves in family Christmas.

Entertainment and Christmas have long gone hand in hand – those of us born before Gen Alpha will remember the joy of the bumper festive Radio Times or A Charlie Brown Christmas getting the festive season started. But now for kids and teens it is the streamers who have cemented themselves as the “switch on” for the festive period and by doing so earned themselves “cool” status.

This year, Netflix releasing Best. Christmas. Ever! on the 16 Nov and Disney Plus dropping Season 2 of The Santa Clauses has kicked off Christmas viewing. And with Christmas playlists sitting atop each platform, it’s only a matter of time before the tree goes up. But beyond being the catalyst of Christmas, in such a busy time with Christmas shopping mixed with a thousand school events and social gatherings, streamers are providing families with some much-needed quality festive chill time. And with their huge back catalogues of festive hits, they are also providing kids and teens with powerful nostalgia.

With both platforms introducing ad-supported plans, brands will soon have the chance to tap into all of the festive eyes and hearts they have secured. But given the recent strikes the streamers will be working hard to maintain their level of content investment to retain their rollout of new originals and exclusive back catalogue. But for now, Princess Switches, being Home Alone and multiple Christmas Chronicles ensure that they will secure the hearts and minds of kids and teens.

If you’d like to find your brand’s role in kids’ and teens’ lives, please get in touch and use our brain.