Seasonal Advertising

Here on the east coast, it's been a long winter, but it looks like it's finally coming to an end. Most of the snow has melted, the sun is shining, and the temperatures are above 0°F. It's officially been spring for a few days now, and most people are excited to finally spend some time outside. Every season emotionally affects people, and seasonal advertising is a strategy that marketers use to tap into people's emotions at a certain time of year.

If you happen to watch videos on Youtube, you know that 10-second, 15-second and 30-second ads are commonplace. At this time of the year, it is unlikely that you will see an ad that features snow, or any imagery of winter that isn't focused on the beginning of spring. It's the time of the year that people don't even want to think about winter. They would rather see green grass and sunshine, since spring is right around the corner.

I found these two ads on Youtube and Facebook, respectively. Both advertisements have similar color schemes, with a lot of green, light blue, and white. Spring is mostly associated with green, since all the plants are blooming, along with the blue skies and clouds. They both also have a lot of sunlight, something that people are looking forward to after winter. 

Many people get sad when fall comes, and the greenery that was just blooming is starting to die off for winter.The end of summer is also the beginning of a new school year, and another year of studying is starting for a lot of people. Clothing ads are very common in the late summer and fall, which are associated with the beginning of a new working year. 

This Best Buy commercial, aimed at college students (or their parents), shows a hardworking college kid who is going to take advantage of the new school year and take every opportunity that he can get. It plays on people's emotions, since a lot of people are really gung ho at the beginning of a school year, and then things tend to slow down when the weather changes. 

For many people in the world, and definitely in the Northeast, winter is associated with "the grind". It's cold, and you just want it to be spring, but there is still a long way to go until the temperature goes up. Many winter advertisements focus on giving people something to look forward to during the most depressing months. Christmas is a huge holiday that has an emotional impact on people right at the beginning of winter.

This late 90's Coke ad has everything that many consider to be Christmas-y. Family bonding, inclusiveness, sharing, etc. Christmas ads are very popular until right after Christmas, when the Christmas spirit suddenly disappears and is replaced by New Years Resolutions and a focus on self-improvement and self-discipline. There is also a focus on working hard, probably to distract yourself until it is warm enough to do things again. 

This Nike ad from 2014 is a great example; it clearly embodies self discipline and the fact that staying active will keep you from getting depressed over the winter. This is also shown in the ending, which contrasts the normal people on "the grind" vs the runner who is making the most out of his winter. 

Many ads that use seasonal advertising appeal to the same basic emotions that people feel throughout the year. It is an effective way to appeal to a widespread amount of people, since the weather and seasons affect all of us similarly. The next time you're on Youtube or watching TV, watch the ads and see how many of them use seasonal advertising, even if they use it subtly.