Tesco began planning their 2020 Christmas campaign off the back of three consecutive Christmases of growth.

It seemed they had found a winning formula: campaigns built on knowing, better than anyone else, how the nation celebrates Christmas.

Then COVID happened.

Suddenly, nobody had a clue what Christmas would look like. Not even Tesco.

So instead, the brand focused on what wouldn’t change: human nature. They identified that the need for light relief had been heightened, not replaced, by COVID.

This led to the big idea: this year, there is no naughty list. Even if we have been a little naughty, after such a tough year, we all deserve to treat ourselves with the finest festive food and wine Tesco has to offer.

Tesco doubled down on distinctiveness and humour in every channel. The TV ad featured a cheeky tannoy, Britney, a sun-burned Santa and plenty of memorable misdemeanours. Their first-of-its-kind partnership with I’m A Celebrity broadcast evicted campmates’ confessions within hours of their departure. Tesco opened up the idea with Twitter Confessions, Snapchat lenses, and...