- Brand - Asda
- Spot - #becauseitschristmas
- Music Title - Sax
- Artist - Fleur
- Composer - Erfjord, Michelsen, Purcell, Abrahart, East
- Publisher - Universal, Kobalt, Sony/ATV, Copyright Control
- Master Rights - Sony
- Music Supervisor - Platinum Rye
- Ad Agency - VCCP
- Creatives - Mark Orbine, Chris Willis
- Film Company - Moxie Pictures
- Film Director - Neil Gorringe
- Post Production - The Mill
- Air Date - 1/11/15
Is it or isn’t it the first big Christmas commercial of 2015? Either way the festive season has arrived early at Asda in the shape of an exuberantly eye-catching #becauseitschristmas spot which broke on November 1.
This unashamedly flamboyant film features neon cars, dogs with antlers, ice-skating snowmen and a break-dancing Santa Claus.
But key to its success is Sax, the first official single by X Factor 2014 runner-up Fleur, who topped iTunes charts last year with her TV performance of Uptown Funk.
According to Platinum Rye director David Bass, the Asda music brief evolved quite considerably during the three months the company worked on the project.
“Initially it called for something current, upbeat and energetic with an element of fun but which wasn’t obviously Christmassy,” he says.
“Sax was still in production when Andrew Tansey from Sony’s sync department alerted my colleague Dave Goulding to the track – ostensibly for another project.
“It was a real team effort and even though there were other big pop hits on the shortlist the agency were quick to cotton on to what a good fit Sax would be.”
A further component in the VCCP-conceived screen campaign is a Shazam button inviting viewers to download the single (which was released on November 6) and access exclusive Asda content.
If only a small proportion of Fleur’s 226k twitter followers take advantage of that offer then the 28 year old, whose debut Syco album Love, Sax and Flashbacks is scheduled for December 4, should have a huge Christmas hit on her hands.
