Christmas and Branding

November is a time of year when business owners are starting to think of Christmas, no matter what their personal viewpoint on the subject is. It is simply the next important event on the calendar as soon as Halloween is over. There is a reason for it and it is usually related to either smart branding or based on sales, depending on the business. Other than sales of Christmas related items, there are other important aspects of focusing business attention on Christmas. No matter what age group or marital status your business clients are, creating inviting Christmassy atmosphere may attract customers attention or simply make them feel more welcome.

Is it ethically acceptable to treat Christmas as part of branding though? The answer to this question is not a straightforward one. It depends on personal believes into the meaning of Christmas as well as a personal viewpoint on what branding and advertising should be.

Branding generally represents values which are followed by your business. After determining how you want to be perceived as a business you can present it to your customers through branding. Branding then becomes a mirror image of your business values in your clients’ eyes in order to remember you.

It is important to not confuse branding with advertising. Other than businesses which are selling Christmas related items and are in the position of advertising those items, as a brand, you may want to pursue Christmas branding but not necessarily advertise Christmas.

Whatever your business values and rules are should determine causes you support. This should include the answer to the question of whether to treat Christmas as part of branding or not. If, as a business owner, you do not appreciate the idea of commercializing Christmas and treating it as part of your branding focus, you might still agree that positive working environment could benefit you as well as your employees and for that reason alone you may find it worth considering to acknowledge Christmas. You may possibly decorate your workspace within Christmas spirit or even engage in some sort of Christmas related activity.

You may also believe, just like we do, that Christmas values are worth to be celebrated and for that reason, treat Christmas branding as an appreciation of those values.

Choosing to believe that Christmas spirit is not broken by branding and also believing in the free choice of celebrating Christmas, we decided to celebrate it. There are positive ethical values maintained via Christmas celebration and we keep those values close to our hearts. Branding almost seems like a trivial issue next to true values of life such as love for another human being, family or life itself. At the same time though, if branding can serve as a reminder of those important values, it stands for a positive cause.

Still, we believe in ethical questions staying open. That relates to questions regarding the subject of Christmas branding as well as any other business related matter in fact. Businesses change and when circumstances change, ethical questions need to be asked once again, therefore we are leaving this discussion open.