• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 30, 2023

Etsy is calling all sleuths into action this holiday season with a new ad campaign challenging viewers to do a little detective work to find the right gift.

This is the first campaign from Orchard, which Etsy tapped as its new creative agency several months ago. Set to the “Mission: Impossible” theme, ads follow four savvy gift-givers as they sniff out perfect gifts for hard-to-peg recipients. That includes the dad who has everything and says he doesn’t want a present, uncommunicative twin daughters, a perplexing six-year-old niece and a too-tall boyfriend.

Themed “Your Mission,” the company hopes the new work will “transform holiday gift anxiety into human and memorable stories.”

While the ads build on the “Etsy has it” platform, developed in partnership with former agency 72andSunny, they add a comedic spin. And they represent a decided shift from the unabashedly emotional appeals of Etsy’s past holiday campaigns.

A spokesperson tells Marketing Daily the new spots are scheduled to run in multiple channels, including streaming, in both the U.S. and the U.K. She says a brand-new out-of-home effort is also on tap, using “bold photography and dynamic motion.” That work is slated to start with a full station takeover in New York’s Union Square, then additional placements in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, London and the greater U.K.

Etsy has been heavily investing in new technology to drive better personalization and search results, guiding users through the 100 million items it sells. The latest boost to discovery is an expanded team of style experts curating Etsy’s Picks. In a blog post for Etsy’s 7.5 million sellers, chief marketing officer Ryan Scott promises the number of Etsy’s Picks will increase tenfold by the end of the year. That will aid the company’s AI. “We’re using this library of human-curated items to help train our machine learning systems, so we can better identify and elevate even more of the best items our community offers,” he writes.

Etsy is also doubling down on holiday deals earlier than ever. And it’s offering an on-time delivery guarantee, which will be supported with separate advertising.