SPAR has travelled the length and breadth of Ireland – from the wilds of west Cork to the wilderness of Wicklow – in pursuit of Christmas trees to feature in its new TV commercial ‘SPAR Delivering Christmas’ which goes live on TV today, as part of a €800,000 Christmas campaign for the brand.
The TV ad is a celebration of Christmas in Ireland and ties in with the SPAR slogan, ‘Under the Tree’ by featuring Christmas trees in obscure – and not so obscure – locations across Dublin, Cork, Carlow and Wicklow, such as the Dursey Island cable car in west Cork, Pearse Street DART station in Dublin, Leighlinbridge in Carlow and Barnarlingan Wood in Wicklow.
Commenting on the new campaign, Suzanne Weldon, Marketing & Communications Director at BWG Foods (owners and operators of SPAR Ireland) said: “In deciding to produce a Christmas advertisement, we wanted to create something which was true to the brand and the fact that we’re an Irish company, so the obvious starting point was our iconic tree and slogan: ‘Under the Tree’. The SPAR store is a key part of hundreds of towns, villages and cities across Ireland and many of our shoppers will be familiar with the tree symbol; what better way to capture both these aspects than by filming Christmas trees in some very unexpected and out of the ordinary locations in Ireland.
“The timing of this campaign is significant in that next year marks the 50th anniversary of the SPAR brand in Ireland. Ultimately, our aspiration was to celebrate half a century of the brand in Ireland and for this ad to find its place among the timeless Christmas greats, which Irish people love and anticipate year in and year out.”
The five day production features filming in 18 different locations across the country, from a pool to a school, a horse to a boat, a sea cave to a SPAR shop and everything in between.
The backing soundtrack has also been specially produced with Irish musicians, Jape and Gemma Hayes, coming together to perform a special cover of “The Christmas Song” originally recorded by the Raveonettes which will be available for download on itunes. While the new SPAR campaign is being anchored by the TV commercial, the wider marketing campaign will also include in-store point of sale materials, Christmas product promotions, and competitions, including one to be launched on Facebook. With over 100,000 fans on its facebook page SPAR is inviting Irish shoppers to post images of local Christmas trees to be in with a chance to win cash prizes.
The Christmas Ad, created by SPAR Ireland and advertising agency Publicis has been produced by Paul Holmes of Red Rage Films and directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman from D.A.D.D.Y.
