A look back at Christmas 2021 as preparations get underway for the next festive season
The Christmas period is notoriously the busiest shopping period of the year, which makes it a key time for retail destinations to engage with shoppers through eye-catching festive spectacles, events and activations. Despite a second year of pandemic-induced constraints put upon retail environments and surges in Omicron variant cases subduing footfall, festive decorating teams gave it their all to bring some light cheer amid the Covid gloom.
Now that Christmas is passed, it is time to take stock of what went well and what could be improved upon as destinations begin planning for Christmas 2022. Retail Destination spoke to decoration suppliers and destination teams to give their 2021 festive highlights, how they dealt with ongoing restrictions, and their hopes and predictions for the next festive season.
Santa’s little helpers
Many retail destinations took a traditional approach to their festive activities in 2021, including Edmonton Green Shopping Centre in London, which installed Sparkles the 15-ft reindeer. Rebecca Bird, retail manager at the Ashdown Philips managed scheme tells that this was Sparkles’ second visit and the team are due to welcome Sparkles back for one final year as part of the Christmas celebrations within the Centre.
“Sparkles was hired from Season Transformations,” says Bird. “Being placed near the roundabout on the way into the Centre and right near the bus garage, meant as many people as possible would have had a chance to see Sparkles. What a great way to get into the festive spirit, especially in the evenings, when Sparkles was all lit up.”
Equally popular at retail schemes was Santa’s grotto. Great Grottos operated 35 grottos in retail schemes over Christmas and reported an increase in attendees of 9%. Managing director at Great Grottos, Matthew Wise, says that the company installed customers bookings systems across all our Grottos to ensure control over numbers and stop customers avoiding disappointment when they travelled long distances.
“Covid has had no damping effect on the demand from families to visit Santa through both 2020 and 2021,” says Wise. “The Santa photo was more important than ever because of the lack of experiences available over the last 12 months.” He also notes that there was a continuing rise in demand for sensory and autism friendly sessions, as attendance for both were up 18%.
A creative challenge
Consumer expectations for the retail experience from retail destinations at Christmas times are high, and with each passing Christmas, Festival Place centre director Neil Churchill thinks these expectation are only getting higher: “With various venues and destinations all vying for visitors and valuable spend, more and more budget has been allocated to the experiential side of the festive season. The challenge for owners and operators of retail destinations is to keep innovating and evolving in line with consumer habits and expectations.”
At the Basingstoke destination, Churchill says they took an early decision to lead with a ‘traditional’ Christmas theme. With the help of partners James Glancy Design and Bakehouse, the team delivered eye-catching designs that looked back to traditional themes through a classically festive colour palette and iconic holiday motifs.
In keeping with its ongoing drive to meet the consumer’s ever increasing sustainability standards, the centre also invested in durable, multi seasonal decorations that will be used over several years and delivered a wide range of events, all whilst committing to repurposing, recycling and reinventing as much as possible.
“Christmas is a creative challenge to revel in and concerns for the environment will remain key in the future,” says Churchill. “Providers will need to demonstrate a strong sustainable methodology and explore eco subject-matter more head-on. And while the community will also play a big part in Christmas 2022, we think people will mostly be looking for some fun.”
Festive retail decorators, Exhibitions International, echo this community-focused sentiment. The company’s national account manager Kirsten McCutcheon says that for Christmas 2021, they saw many shopping centres and town centres looking to give back to shoppers to create a fully immersive Christmas shopping experience.
McCutcheon says they noticed a swing towards fast and effective photo opportunities using light sculptures instead of grottos or displays, which she says make a ‘fantastic’ Christmas feature and, because of their versatility, will be on trend continuing into 2022. On how centre management teams can support the Christmas decorating industry, she adds: “As we connect with clients new and old we sense a real anticipation and excitement for Christmas 2022. Landlords can continue supporting us by keeping budgets and being flexible.”
Creating Christmas
For festive decorators Christmas Creations, projects in 2021 were inspired by positivity, coming together and traditional Christmas imagery proved incredibly popular, which creative director Alex Walters says is a result of the pandemic showing people need family, friends and social interaction – and the traditional memories of Christmas that everyone missed the year before.
Working with a new client at Clyde Shopping Centre, Christmas Creations designed an interactive scene that would allow for Covid safe environment, with singing animated reindeer pulling a giant illuminated sleigh that customers could sit in for photos. The decorators worked with two local singers to record the voices for the reindeer which had Scottish accents and would sing a medley of songs as well as reciting jokes and safety announcements.
Walters says that the meaning of Christmas is subjective, and so it can be difficult to create something that appeals to all ages, whether it be modern or traditional, or if it should follow the latest trend or be timeless classic.
“These are just some of the things we consider when designing a scheme, understanding your client and their customer are key to designing a successful display,” he tells. “Having a clear brief and understanding the objectives of the festive display will help determine what is right. Once we have this information, we choose a theme and colour palette for the decorations. We can then design a display that is cohesive and deliver a successful campaign.”
For years the sustainable push in the decorating industry has been creating light displays using only LED lighting, which has become the norm and has drastically cut energy consumption. The problem now, says Walters, lies with plastics and reducing greenhouse gases along the entire stage of the process from production to installation.
Conscious most products in the Christmas industry are imported, Christmas Creations has taken steps to reduce its carbon footprint: “Our artificial garlands and wreaths are made in the England, while our plastic baubles are made in Europe and metalwork is fabricated in the UK,” Walters explains. “We have reduced our reliance on overseas imports with the fallout of Brexit and high shipping. To extend the life of decorations, displays are refurbished and remanufactured into new schemes where possible allowing us to pass on the savings to the customer.”
Looking ahead to Christmas 2022, Walters says that decorators are aware destinations are cutting budgets and may be weary of signing lengthy contracts. The decorator’s aim now, he says, is to ensure Christmas is not overlooked and is working to offer packages that offer value and still provide wow factor, such as by utilising elements throughout the year to spread the cost and increase the return on the investment.
On whether things will ever look as they did pre-pandemic, Walters believes that Christmas will prevail, and that this has been proven over the last two years: “The idea of togetherness and sharing an experience or showing appreciation through gifts is incredibly important,” he says, predicting that traditional imagery and themes that hark back to childhood memories of Christmas will play a strong role in Christmas 2022.
Finally, in order to ensure the future of the Christmas industry, Walters urges landlords to support the managing agents, retailers and customers by showing they are committed to ensuring the success of the high street and retail. “One thing that the lock downs have shown is how people can’t get the same experience shopping online, from trying on clothes, to meeting friends for coffee, visiting the cinema or getting your purchases instantly,” he says.
“If retailers can ensure they can offer these things to customers, landlords need to show this support by offering discounted parking, incentives to shop at their site with a loyalty scheme and activities throughout the year to engage with customers. Seasonal events combined with decorations create impact and entice customers in.”
Placemaking power
“Designs that have ‘placemaking power’ are more meaningful and connect with people intuitively,” says Markus Mark, managing director of light display company MK Illumination. “In these designs, the lighting tells a unique story about the setting or brand in a joyful way that will drive footfall and engagement. Including elements that will appeal to all ages, from children and families to adults and young adults (who are very active on social media) is also important.
For that reason, he advises retail destinations to collaborate closely with decorators as early in the Christmas planning process as possible: “The better we understand the background, brand personality, objectives and aspirations of the client, the better the outcome. The core questions are: What story are we trying to tell? What will draw people in? What will make people smile? There are many considerations including the brief, the brand, customer demographics, architecture, landscape and context, logistics, installation restrictions and budgets.”
According to Mark, there are a few design themes coming through for Christmas 2022. Nostalgic designs that recall a simpler time, featuring classics like nutcrackers, carousels and vintage toys in a classic red, green and candy-striped pallet is one. Another is a woodland theme, featuring cute animals like owls, robins, foxes and squirrels and acorn and pinecones has wide appeal and offers great opportunity for a tactile design with soft fur, wood and copper metal accents. He points out that the latter dovetails with the trend for artisanal products and ‘handcrafted’ designs using natural materials.
As lighting experts, Mark says that sustainability is right at the top of MK Illuminations agenda when it comes to decorations: “Product wise, we only use the latest patented LED technologies in our products which are extremely energy efficient and long lasting. Beyond that we focus on eliminating waste in our manufacturing processes and supply chain.”
He also says the company employs a ‘zero-landfill’ policy, such that all products no longer in use come back to them, at which point they are re-sold (as pre-loved), or broken down into components that are re-used, sold on, or in the case of elements damaged beyond repair, recycled.
For retail destinations looking to invest in decorative lighting, he says it pays to be bold, and that investing in the right lighting can really bring out a unique sense of place. He advises investing in a few high-quality stand-out pieces rather than spreading the budget thin by aiming for a huge amount of coverage.
“Those stand out pieces are much more likely to get people talking and sharing on their networks, so that’s another big win,” says Mark. “We like to encourage clients to think about the decorative lighting within the context of a full multi-channel marketing campaign. This will maximise its value and drive the highest possible footfall and customer engagement.”
Building brand advocacy
For Christmas decorators Fizzco, the most rewarding part about Christmas 2021 was getting to work with more businesses, charities and shopping centres in the company’s home city of Lincoln. “The highlight was being able to walk through the city on our days off and enjoy our festive creations, knowing the hard work, time, resources, and dedication that went into creating each and every display throughout the city,” says Wendy Clarkson, director at Fizzco.
Clarkson says that a good Christmas display needs to do more than just look good – it should stir up up feelings and emotions like pure joy, wonder, nostalgia and intrigue, it should use contrast to create drama, consider ratios, colours and the direction of light, and above all else it should engage with a wide range of people.
“A good Christmas display needs to resonate with an extensive range of customer demographics, including age, race, gender, and ethnicity,” says Clarkson. “A good Christmas display needs to build brand advocacy, ensuring that visitors and customers promote and advocate for the business and Christmas display. Spreading the word both in person and across social media to their family and friends. Creating a customer experience is critical for creating advocacy, and the result will be better brand associations, increased new visitors, and increased repeat customers.”
On what decorating trends will be popular for Christmas 2022, she says that Retro and Luxury Metallics will be the aesthetic focus for many installations: “The retro movement is all about using vibrant colour options, and lighting elements for a funky cheerful Christmas season,” she explains. “It’s not Christmas without a bit of sparkle! Luxury metallic is all about embellishments, mixing metallics combined with neutrals, for a more luxury interior.”
On the sustainability front, Clarkson says that being environmentally friendly has had a big impact on Fizzco’s business and design choices in recent years, including the creation of an entire product range that features commercial display products that have been reborn and revived as well as upcycling decorations to ensure they are used multiple times, reducing waste and creating value for customers.
Taking on board the restrictions present in at retail destinations over the past two years, Clarkson expects some social distance measures will be here to stay, and so the main difference surrounding events in the future will focus on creating an overall experience rather than a place for large gatherings.
In order to ensure next Christmas is a successful one for destinations, she says that communication and collaboration with decorations teams will be the key to success, and that to support the Christmas industry in 2022, landlords, tenants, and seasonal décor partners need to work together to create an elevated experience.
“Today, the shopping experience is arguably more memorable than the products themselves,” she adds. “With so many different ways to shop, customers will likely choose the most engaging one. The increased collaboration between the stakeholders will improve the shopping experience, which is the key to long-term retail success.”
This was first published in Retail Destination Fortnightly. Click here to subscribe.
