How Labels Re-Invent Marketing Of Christmas Releases Each Year
Every year, Christmas brings with it certain traditions, gifts are wrapped, crackers cracked, and certain music finds its way across our feeds, major charts and airwaves.
First up, of course, is the ubiquitous ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ by Mariah Carey. The track was first released in 1994, but remains an essential holiday release.
Sony has explained that they focus on a new way to market the track and refresh its place in the holiday season, year after year. So far, those efforts have resulted in the release of a children’s book, an animated film, an Amazon mini-documentary on the longevity of the track, a performance in ‘Love Actually’, and various new music videos.
Last year, Carey kicked off the silly season by posting a skit to her socials on November 1. The following Monday, her song hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Not only was it the first Christmas song to do so, it’s also the only song to reach the No.1 spot, so long after being released.
Michael Bublé is another name that resurrects each Christmas, and often lands alongside Mariah Carey’s in our Christmas playlists and on the charts. Bublé’s 2011 album ‘Christmas’ is packed with covers of festive favourites. They're comfort songs that have proven track records, even before Michael Bublé’s covers were recorded.
In 2019, Bublé released another version of his ‘White Christmas’ cover, alongside a family-friendly animated video. This year, he has released a sing-a-long version of 'It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas' and you can find an ad campaign floating around TikTok for the tune too. Looking back over recent years, you can rely on the Canadian musician to release new music in the latter half of the year – contributing to the Bublé-ification of Christmas time.
While her Christmas efforts aren’t quite as prolific as Bublé and Carey’s (yet), an honourable mention goes out to Ariana Grande. Grande has two Christmas EPs, her 2013 EP ‘Christmas Kiss’ and 2015's ‘Christmas & Chill’, and she just recently joined Mariah Carey’s Christmas Special, forming a trio with Carey and Jennifer Hudson to perform ‘Oh Santa!’.
What’s interesting is that these artists and the teams behind them aren’t simply releasing and re-marketing them, they’re finding ways to implement themselves into annual festivities. While Christmas is a short lived celebration, tradition remains, and year after year, consumers return to those traditions they know and love. For some, spinning popular artists’ Christmas releases has become as much a tradition as decorating their tree.
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