Jazz & Christmas

It's that time of year. Bells ringing, lights on indoors and on the city streets, a soft, warm cover and Michael Bublé returning to sing his Christmas jazz repertoire. 

This year, Sky, the European telecommunications giant, chose the song Mele Kalikimaka by Bing Crosby to accompany the Christmas commercial of its offers. 

This is not the first time it has resorted to the jazzy sounds of crooners, such as the early Frank Sinatra, for its festive advertisements.

But why do we associate jazz songs with Christmas? How do we touch just such emotions?

Jazz and its connection with Christmas

Jazz sounds have been around for more than a century now and to some extent we inevitably relate them to that part of the year when we are all the merrier. The genre grew out of a mix of the blues of African-origin culture and European and American popular music. Out of this contamination and admixture later came swing.

In the first half of the 20th century, Christmas songs with religious themes dominated the atmosphere until the public in the USA first and then worldwide felt the need to stop showing their faith so publicly. 

So the green light was given to new Christmas songs that recounted the Christmas season in public places, in big movies and, of course, in commercials. 

In 1942, White Christmas was released, the best-selling single of all time, which was loaded with jazz sounds, elevating itself to a popular phenomenon. 

Here begins the ageless marriage of jazz and Christmas.

Jazz as a vehicle for the message

We have seen how little by little different generations of children, then grown up, associated jazz sounds with their experience of Christmas. To their memories of the holidays.

As we know, the choices that guide consumer purchases are not only linked to the rational dimension of the individual: it is possible to get in touch with the emotions of the public by touching feelings through the message of our campaign. 

Our emotional part when called upon is impulsive when it comes to analysing and buying a product or service. 

We also talked about this in this article about wine and design.

The elements that characterise design can be many, but they all tug at the heartstrings of memories, of habits, of experience.

Emotional marketing chases the challenge of creating meaningful experiences that stay with the consumer. Developing relationships and conversations, accompanying the audience on their journey. 

The experience of reliving a memory, a mission of advertising agencies

When it comes to creating a message that is a journey into the past, it is important to be able to convey authenticity. Being able to convey one's experiences and the right language is necessary to evoke an authentic emotion.  

It is the psycho-sociological and pedagogical dialectic of the self-educating society to which it aspires 

Polar cold. The notes of Let it snow rise. A snowman takes shelter in the warmth of a festively decorated house. He approaches the table and enjoys the hot meal to melt into the pleasure itself. Who could do otherwise when looking at this scene? Find out more. 

The advertisement hit the nail on the head. The evocation of the Christmas atmosphere and warm, positive emotions is total. The result? A success. 

Every individual's memories are unique, as are certain emotions. But we know that there are colours and atmospheres common to all, and that is where marketing works to bring its campaign creations to life.

Christmas is not a celebration, it is a place of the soul, and it seems that jazz is our favourite carriage to get there.