Week 1 results: John Lewis the public’s favourite and most recognised Christmas ad
This week marked the launch of Ipsos’ Race to Christmas, our annual campaign tracking the performance of some of the UK’s biggest brands during the golden quarter to uncover what’s driving cut-through and effectiveness. From this week onwards, Ipsos will be sharing our tracker insights with a festive a swathe of insights so stay tuned for insights...
But firstly, what are the key headlines?
- 73% of Brits surveyed have seen at least one Christmas ad so far.
- Of those who have seen a Christmas ad, John Lewis’ (17%) currently leads as the spontaneous favourite mention.
- When it comes to building positive brand feelings, Aldi leads the market, with 55% saying the advert made them feel good about the brand.
For the first wave, we put ten of the season’s earliest Christmas ads to the test to see which campaigns are resonating most with the British public, and here's what we discovered...
The mood around Christmas is upbeat
49% of people are already feeling excited about Christmas and 73% have already seen at least one Christmas ad so far this year - awareness has risen steadily year on year, up from 52% at this point in 2024 and 71% in 2025.
John Lewis’ is leading the fame battle
John Lewis’ ‘Gloria and Pickles’ is leading on recognition, branded recognition and favourite mentions. It’s only week one, but there is some polarisation also coming through, which is no bad thing in a festive season where everyone is jostling for attention.
John Lewis leads on spontaneous favourite mentions
Of those who have seen a Christmas ad, we asked them to tell us unprompted which was their favourite. John Lewis (17%) currently leads spontaneous favourite mentions, ahead of M&S (16%), while Aldi (9%) and Sainsbury's (9%) are joint third. Tesco follows on 6%, with Lidl and Coca-Cola both on 5%.
Aldi leads on brand feel good
When it comes to building positive brand feelings, Aldi leads the market, with 55% saying the advert made them feel good about the brand. Boots (47%), Tesco (46%) and Lidl (45%) also perform strongly. John Lewis and Argos are at 30%.
There’s confusion stirring between Boots and Argos
Both Boots’ ‘Give it some Boots’ and Argos ‘Tale of Argos’ Past’ ads use LED face masks, and it may be causing some branding confusion. When asked if respondents can link an ad to the correct brand, 19% are mistakenly linking the Boots’ ad to Argos.
Repetitive use of the BFG is paying off for Sainsbury’s.
The continued use of BFG for Sainsbury's is playing a blinder on branded attention at 21%, a whisker behind John Lewis who are at 24%.
M&S is showing early signs of success.
M&S’ ‘The Home of Christmas’ ad has not officially tracked in the race yet, but just days into its launch it is the second spontaneous favourite after John Lewis.
