• by Larissa Faw , November 8, 2017

Big Lots is pivoting away from the typical holiday spot that paints an aspirational and often times unattainable holiday image to embrace perfectly imperfect moments of joy and togetherness.

Developed with O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul (OKRP), the creative features customers celebrating the holidays while singing Three Dog Night's version of “Joy to the World.”

“Our goal was to connect more emotionally with our core customer, who we refer to as ‘Jennifer,’" says Lisa Bachmann, executive vice president, chief merchandising and operating officer, Big Lots, adding that music has become a signature for the retailer, "enabling us to instantly connect with Jennifer and to stand out from competitors.”

The campaign includes vignettes of cookie decorating, light hanging, and car rides, which were inspired by real stories and memories of the holidays shared by OKRP's creative team. The agency also worked with a casting agency specializing in non-actors to cast real-life siblings to provide more realistic interactions.

The ads were shot to look like user-generated content to give them a more emotional feel and to provide a wide variety of clips for social media, says OKRP.

The campaign includes a 60-second anthem ad running in cinema and online, as well as 15- and 30-second spots airing on broadcast and online. A partnership with iHeartRadio will run radio ads across its holiday channels.

In addition, 20 vignettes will be used to extend the campaign online via digital video, digital display, native ads, rich media, paid social, and Facebook video.