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Small Business Saturday Has Its First Festive Advert, Filmed at the Shops It Wants You to Visit
Small Business Saturday’s first festive advert was filmed at independent shops and calls on Britain to back its 5.7 million small businesses on 5 December.
Small Business Saturday has made its first festive advert, and it was filmed in real small businesses. The campaign, now in its 14th year, wants Britain to back its 5.7 million small businesses when the day arrives on 5 December.
What happened
Talking Retail reported on 10 November that the advert was filmed at small businesses across the country and follows a young shopper on a festive journey. 365 Retail adds that the locations include a Covent Garden cafe, a Brighton pottery studio and a Teddington restaurant, and names the owners who appear. American Express, the campaign’s principal supporter in the UK, backs it, and the campaign has run since 2013.
Michelle Ovens CBE, director of Small Business Saturday UK, says small businesses “sit at the heart of our communities”.
Why it matters
The advert uses the thing the campaign sells: real shops, real owners, real places. That is more convincing than actors in a set, and it gives every featured business a story it can share. For a small business, the day is also a deadline: shoppers who are told to look local need to find you quickly.
What it means for your brand
- Be findable before 5 December. People who decide to shop small will search for what is near them. Work through our local SEO checklist for London and our guide to being findable on Small Business Saturday.
- Have a story ready. The advert works because each owner has one. Our guide to branding for small businesses shows how to tell yours in a sentence.
- Plan the whole season. Small Business Saturday sits between Black Friday and Christmas. See our Black Friday plan for UK small businesses, then talk to us about small business branding.
Cover photo by the blowup on Unsplash.
