LOGO

They’ve been here for more than a week already.
A subject that’s crossed all our minds.
Should we or shouldn’t we?
An experience even more intense than its pre-Christmas counterpart.
Welcome to The Sales.

Red and white are the colours of Father Christmas.
Red and white are the colours of The Sales.
But Christmas Day is the threshold of a very big shift in retail brand marketing.
Pre-Christmas marketing appeals to the consumer perception of the idea of that perfect gift for a friend or family member.
Post-Christmas marketing spins back at the consumer’s personal desires, at a short-lived, intensive ‘buy me now!’ rate.
It’s as if we weren’t satisfied with the amount of presents we received and the amount we’d consumed the day before.

The Boxing Day Sales are literally that. It’s a case of fight and flight. Run around the store, then grab as full a handful of identical items as you can to ENSURE you’ve got the size you need, and the guy or girl next to you hasn’t snatched it from under your nose.

It’s Sales chaos – organised chaos. Chaos organised by brands.
But it’s brand chaos, too.
It’s as if the public knowledge of the existence of ‘Sales’ in pretty much all retail establishments at this time of year just isn’t enough.
In fact, brands seem to lose their identity at this time in favour of identical giant words in windows, on bags, via e-blasters – “SALE!”, “EVERYTHING MUST GO!”. All brands are shouting the same language.

The usual brand marketing/advertising messaging and glossy presentation displays are thrown out of the window in favour of giant red and white posters in the windows.
It’s a stark contrast to the warm, friendly, family focussed shopping experience evoked by brands in the lead up to Christmas.

But do these big red and white words really make an impression on us?
Well, when consumers are ‘going to the Sales’, what they mean is, they’re going to the High Street or Shopping Mall with a few target stores in mind, but at a simple whim could easily spend their spare post-Christmas pounds in the very first store they rush into.
It’s all about the visual draw.

But everyone’s a winner, right?
Brands and retail stores make a quick buck whilst clearing out their old stock, and consumers get bargains on items they never knew they wanted or needed until they sifted through the rails.
Very organised brand chaos, indeed – those brands know what they’re doing!
If only Christmas could wait a couple of days, then perhaps the consumers would be the happier ones.