Making Christmas More Magical for a Much-Loved Brand

The Potential

When almost everyone knows your name, being known isn't enough.

Yankee Candle's brand awareness was already above 95%, which puts it alongside names like Coca-Cola. But the home fragrance market was crowded and the competition was fierce. The brand needed to invest in its equity, remind people of its fragrance expertise, and grow its share of home fragrance.

There was a perception challenge too. Yankee Candle needed to move beyond a dated, "Hallmark" image and show that it's a brand for everyone. That meant reaching new and younger audiences while keeping its loyal fans close.

The Insight

Yankee Candle was born from a Christmas gift.

In Massachusetts in 1969, on a cold December night, 16-year-old Mike Kittredge couldn't afford a Christmas present for his mother. So he made one. He melted red wax, used string for a wick and a milk carton for a mould, and Yankee Candle began.

The brand has been about gifting and the moments we share with the people we love ever since. Scent has a unique power to take us straight back to those memories. Gifting, memories and, of course, magic were the ingredients we needed.

The Idea

Make it More Magical.

We built a 360 campaign around one simple truth: the real magic of Christmas is in the moments we share. 'Make it More Magical' ran across TV, print, digital, broadcast, out-of-home, a nationwide experiential roadshow, national PR, social and influencers, all brought together by #YankeeCandleMoments.

It was Yankee Candle's first TV ad since 2017. In the 30-second film, a nurse steps off a bus on Christmas Eve, catches a familiar scent, and is carried home as if by magic. The Drum shortlisted it as one of the best ads of the season. The creative proved its longevity too. The film was re-used in 2025, and we produced a suite of creative retailer mailers incorporating the video to extend its reach and raise awareness among retail partners, demonstrating how a strong campaign platform can work across regional and trade channels.

Then we put the magic on the road. The Yankee Candle Express, a festive red double-decker bus, toured six UK locations, including London King's Cross, Birmingham's Bullring, Bristol's Cabot Circus, Lakeside, and Manchester. The first stop at King's Cross drew two-hour queues and the most organic posts the brand had ever had.

To get the nation talking, we commissioned research into how fragrance stirs nostalgic Christmas memories. The result was the UK's Top 20 Christmas Smells, led by roast turkey, cinnamon, and pine trees. Three-quarters of people agreed that familiar scents bring back happy memories, and Yankee Candle fragrance expert Taylor Perlis added expert comment. The story landed in The Sun, the Mirror, the Express, the Daily Star, Yahoo and Metro.

Out-of-home took the campaign onto high streets, into and around shopping centres and across the central London Underground, sending shoppers to Yankee Candle stores and retail partners. Paid media added print, digital display (including a vox pop series with MailOnline), YouTube and podcast sponsorships.

On social, we launched Yankee Candle UK on TikTok to reach a younger audience and ran organic and paid activity across Meta. Five carefully chosen influencers created Stories, Reels and Carousels, backed up by gifting and user-generated content. We kept the influencer line-up deliberately small, ensuring every piece of content felt authentic within budget and landed with the right audience.

The Impact

The campaign delivered a combined reach of over 348 million, exceeding targets across earned media, paid media, social and experiential activity.

• National media coverage exceeded its reach KPI by 265%, delivering more than 3.6 times the target.
• Brand awareness remained at 97% throughout the highly competitive Christmas period, according to Brand Potential's research.
• Paid and gifted influencer activity delivered 169% and 257% of their respective reach targets, extending the campaign's visibility.
• TV advertising exceeded impact targets in both the UK (+3%) and Ireland (+9%), while out-of-home activity surpassed its reach KPI by 4%.
• Social activity generated twice the projected outbound clicks, with TikTok cost per click 10% below target.
• The Yankee Candle Express attracted almost 10% more visitors than anticipated, with 78% of attendees reporting increased purchase intent and 76% describing the experience as "magical".
• The campaign earned industry recognition, with the TV creative shortlisted by The Drum and featured across 14 industry and trade publications.