Seasonal campaigns are under more scrutiny than ever. Using McDonald’s and Asda’s Grinch takeovers as live case studies, we dig into how leading brands are using Q4 to pressure-test their platforms, sharpen value messaging and prove full-funnel impact across Google, TikTok, Meta and beyond.
There’s no gentle way to say it: in 2025, the Grinch has once again EATEN Christmas advertising. McDonald’s has just handed him the keys to its global festive push, with a themed meal, TV and social takeover, creator-led gaming activity, and high impact placements in Times Square. Similarly in the UK, Asda’s “A Very Merry Grinchmas” uses the same character as a value first supermarket hero, turning price, stretchable budgets and the emotional reality of squeezed households into an accessible, light hearted Christmas story that exemplifies the brand’s value positioning.
Underneath the green fur, these campaigns tell a bigger story about how seasonal marketing is evolving, and are live case studies in how to use cultural IP, balance brand and activation, and how to measure impression-led spend.
Holiday advertising has always traded on comfort. What’s different now is how brands are using nostalgic IP (familiar characters and worlds) as strategic assets. McDonald’s doesn’t just borrow the Grinch for a 30-second spot; it builds a whole ecosystem around him that touches menu, app, social, creator content, live sport, streaming hubs and out-of-home.
Asda’s approach is more grounded: the same character appears in aisles and car parks rather than a fantasy land. The story is all about low prices, stretchable budgets and “making Christmas work” in a cost-of-living squeeze. The brand isn’t promising magic; it’s promising value, delivered with a human self-aware tone.
Both campaigns make it clear that a Christmas ad is no longer a single hero film. It’s a system that has to live natively across all platforms: YouTube pre-rolls, TikTok feeds, Meta ads, retail media, creator content and in-store moments.
Younger audiences in particular expect to encounter the story in multiple places, and they’re more likely to respond to participatory formats (creator content, social challenges, gaming integrations) than to a single “big ad drop”.
If your seasonal idea cannot generate distinctive, repeatable assets for YouTube, TikTok, Meta, retail media and CRM, it is probably under powered for the current media environment.
The harder part is proving that all of this chaos actually works. Seasonal campaigns are, by design, heavy on upper-funnel impressions and soft metrics like “buzz” and “talkability.” CFOs, meanwhile, want to understand what that spend did for CAC, incrementality and long-term value.
Recent research into upper-funnel spending shows that brands maintaining consistent brand investment, including seasonal spikes, over many months see lower CAC and stronger long-run ROAS than brands that treat awareness as a one-off stunt. That’s particularly relevant when holiday campaigns are leaning so heavily on IP, sponsorships and high-impact video.
To close that gap, many marketers are leaning on a mix of platform-native tools (for example, Google’s ability to connect YouTube and PMax data, or TikTok’s growing suite of measurement and attribution case studies) and independent, full-funnel models that can read across channels. One example – Fospha has been used by ecommerce brands to uncover how much TikTok and other impression-led channels were under-credited by last-click analytics, and to show how sustained upper-funnel activity lifts performance in paid search and shopping campaigns. This kind of view turns seasonal work from a “brand expense” into a growth lever that can be defended in Q1.
For senior marketers planning the next wave of holiday activity, a few sharper principles emerge from this festive (Grinch!) heavy season:
Build a platform, not a single moment. If your seasonal idea can’t live naturally on TikTok, YouTube and in retail media, it’s probably not robust enough. You should be able to generate distinctive, repeatable assets across YouTube, TikTok, Meta, retail media and CRM without constant reinvention.
Ensure value is part of the story. Even if you’re using big, joyful IP – famous/feel-good characters and worlds that people already love, they should not replace a clear value message. Asda’s “Very Merry Grinchmas” walks that line well.
Treat seasonal as a controlled test bed for full-funnel strategy. Q4 is one of the few periods (for a lot of companies) where demand, media weight and organisational focus all spike. Use this peak period to learn how upper-funnel channels (short-form video, connected TV, social) interact with search, shopping and CRM when demand is highest. Then lock those learnings into your 2026 plan. Measurement here is key.
Raise the bar on how you read impact. Relying on last click or single platform reporting will almost always underplay the contribution of impression led channels. Combine platform-level capabilities from the likes of Google, TikTok and Meta with an independent, full-funnel lens like Fospha so you can understand the true incremental impact of your seasonal storytelling, not just the last click.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas now just around the corner, we hope you are in the festive spirit as we all are. But remember markers as we close the year: The story does not end on 31 December. As we see every year, the highest-performing teams are already wiring what they learn now into Q1(and beyond). So enjoy the lights, the noise and the endless Grinch ads. Then take a quiet moment with your data, your team and your 2026 brief and ask: did our seasonal work just make us feel busy, or did it genuinely move the brand and the business forward? AND how are we accurately measuring that?
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