Now that Thanksgiving has passed, we can officially start getting excited about Christmas – and more importantly, the festive ad treats that brands and retailers the world over have started serving up over the last few weeks. 

To kick off our Christmas countdown, over the next few weeks we’re going to share some of our festive favourites of the holiday season. Tell us what you think in the comments below.  

Without picking favourites, the first of the bunch has got to go to John Lewis for its 'Buster the Boxer' Christmas campaign. It's a story about a young girl named Bridget who love to bounce. But when her mum and dad buy her a trampoline for Christmas, they soon discover that she isn't the only one with a passion for jumping... 

The world continues to become a smaller place as digital technologies transcend oceans and dissolve boarders, allowing corporations to forge international relationships and partnerships that would otherwise go unformed.

These modern-day miracles do not come without their complications, however, as business etiquette can greatly differ from region to region. Culture shocks from around the world can often lead to potential business associates embarrassing themselves and outright botching deals.

These mistakes come in many forms, whether it be an improper greeting, social media conundrums, or inadvertently disrespectful marketing materials; this makes it vitally important to have a keen understanding and perception of local business customs.

In an effort to help business leaders avoid succumbing to cultural formality mishaps, here are some of the most prominent business culture shocks from around the world.

As the holiday season gets well underway, does your brand struggle to keep up the festive spirit on social media and find new, engaging things to share?

At this time of year consumers’ social media feeds are constantly flooded with festive-themed posts, so it’s essential to try something new and break through all the noise.

If you fancy shaking things up this year, why not take a look at MDG Advertising’s infographic on ‘7 Fresh Ideas for Your Holiday Social Media Posts’ which looks at a number of effective tactics that have not been overused by marketers to date. Check it out below:

Fancy taking a snap of yourself glugging down your favourite beverage? Well, thanks to Coca-Cola Israel, it’s now possible thanks to the launch of the ‘world’s first selfie bottle’ which comes fully equipped with a selfie-taking camera at the base of the bottle.

The 0.5L bottle is geared up to take a snap when it senses a 70 degree tilt, with the resulting selfies shared on Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram via a dedicated hashtag.

In a concept created by innovation agency Gefen Team, the tech was used as part of the Coca-Cola Summer Love campaign – Israel’s biggest outdoor brand event.

MediaCom walked away with 2 Grand Prix Awards - including 'Agency Network of the Year' for MediaCom Latin America and 'Agency of the Year' for MediaCom Colombia - at the Festival of Media LatAm Awards 2016, in a special charity awards gala dinner held last night (November 10) at Turnberry Isle Miami. 

Huawei's 'The Day the Media Ran Out of Battery' campaign, by MediaCom Colombia, was crowned 'Campaign of the Year' in addition to a host of trophies across a range of categories, including Gold for 'The Creative Use of Media Award' and 'Best Launch Campaign', and Silver in the new 'Best Use of Traditional Media' category. 

MediaCom Colombia and Initiative both picked up 10 trophies each, while OMD was awarded five Golds (the most given to one agency). 

The inaugural 'Media Agency Group of the Year' was awarded to IPG Mediabrands, following a string of awards for Initiative offices in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and El Salvador, and UM in Mexico, Argentina and Puerto Rico across 11 client brands. 

Brazil was the most successful country, securing 10 trophies, four of those won by DPZ&T – which scooped a Gold, two Silvers and a Bronze. Argentina had nine trophies, five of which were taken home by Initiative, and Colombia followed with eight.

The charity event was hosted to raise funds for Save the Children and the relief effort in the region following Hurricane Matthew. 

Jennelle Tilling, CMO, KFC Global, who chaired the awards jury, said: “Latin America is known for being a mobile-first, early-adopting region, and it didn’t disappoint with some particularly strong campaigns that used data, programmatic and social media.

“Competing agencies also proved their innovativeness, for example we saw a billboard that trapped and killed mosquitos, while I loved Huawei’s campaign that interrupted media to prove the benefit of continued service and its longer-life new phone battery.”

Check out the full list of winning campaigns below and click through to read the full case studies.

If ever we needed definitive proof that John Lewis has Christmas advertising all wrapped up, it may not come as a surprise to many but John Lewis' blueprint for how to create Britain's most watched, loved and profitable Christmas advertising campaigns was recently awarded the IPA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix 2016.  

The prestigious prize was awarded to John Lewis’s agencies adam&eveDDB and Manning Gottlieb OMD for proving how their heart-warming Christmas campaigns between 2012-2015* increased sales during the festive season by 16% on average, and produced over £8 of profit for every £1 spent. As a result, John Lewis’s annual market share has increased to 29.6%, its highest level ever. 

The award-winning submission – entitled 'adam&eveDDB, Manning Gottlieb OMD, IPA Awards 2016 – The gift that keeps on giving: John Lewis Christmas advertising 2012-2015' - highlights the importance of the Christmas season to John Lewis’s business: it accounts for around 20% of John Lewis annual sales and 40% of profits, from which staff bonuses are generated. 

To drive this growth, adam&eveDDB and Manning Gottlieb OMD executed a number of Christmas campaigns that created emotional rather than retail messages; ones that provided engaging stories about thoughtful giving set to carefully selected music, rather than overt selling messages and excessive references to the store or its products. 

So what's the secret to its success? The paper revealed 10 key ingredients that make for the perfect recipe of Christmas advertising success. Check them out below:

Girlguiding, a leading UK charity for girls and young women, has launched its first ever awareness campaign that challenges outdated perceptions of women and encourages people to think twice about the charity. 

The film, entitled #ForTheGirl, highlights the barrage of negative voices girls are exposed to every day through the media and promotes the charity's role in raising girls' aspirations, building their confidence and tackling inequality. It was developed in response to Girlguiding research which shows that 70% of 11-21 year old girls say sexism is so widespread that it affects most areas of their lives.  

Produced with youth marketing agency Livity, the film shows a series of apparently positive scenarios for girls – but when the girls turn to camera or speak to each other, the voices heard are not their own. Instead they are the voices of familiar media personalities offering a sexist commentary on an aspect of female identity and their role in society. 

It’s no secret that more and more campaigns include an experiential or ‘live’ element, either as the focus or playing a key supporting role. However, many brands and agencies are not getting the most from these activations, because they are ignoring a vital factor – portability.

Brands are investing more and more in marketing in the real world because it is proving increasingly effective at engaging consumers thanks to the amplification factor through online channels, particularly social. This increases ‘portability’ – or rather extends the reach and lifespan far beyond the actual live experience.

Sounds easy. Let’s simply share the campaign online through as many social channels as possible during the ‘event’ itself and after it has taken place. However, delivering true portability isn’t that simple. The sheer act of doing this will indeed extend the reach, but it won’t necessarily make the campaign more portable. That’s because portability is all about extending not just awareness of the activation itself, but also, more importantly, ensuring the right meaning about the brand and all the messages you want to get across are carried through the various channels of ‘amplification’. And these might not necessarily just be online, but could also be through other techniques, such as word of mouth, PR, out of home and more – essentially maximising not just engagement, but also effectiveness.

Every campaign needs a portable strategy – whether experiential or not – to increase reach, but for true portability it has to be relevant to the brand rather than scattergun, and also convey consistent messaging and impact.