It comes around the same time every year, but somehow Christmas manages to sneak up on us in a whirlwind of tinsel, romcoms and iconic festive ads. Despite consumer confidence taking a knock, news brand readers see Christmas 2025 as a time to indulge in small luxuries — sounds like a job for the supermarkets!
Shoppers read news brands
While UK shoppers spent a record-breaking £13.8 billion on Christmas groceries in 2024, 2025’s economic backdrop has seen declining consumer confidence as the Budget announcement approaches at the end of November.
Despite this, festive spending is set to break records again this year. What’s more, nine in 10 consumers want to treat themselves with premium products this Christmas, meaning 2025’s festive season will be a time for small luxuries and easy wins.
With a monthly reach of 81% of UK adults, news brands have huge reach with supermarket shoppers. Reach rises to 83% for main shoppers and 84% for ABC1s, making news brands’ specialist food content and first-party data a vital tool for advertisers targeting key audiences.
Print or digital — grab readers’ attention
Whether reading online or in print, key target groups are reading news brand content for ideas of what’s going to make that festive spread. When deciding what groceries to purchase, print readers are 70% more likely than the average UK adult to be influenced by advertising and 67% more likely to be influenced by professional reviews and recommendations.
Meanwhile, with 80% of digital news brand readers having visited at least one of the ‘big five’ supermarkets via website or app last December, online news publishers are another key gateway to consumers responsible for feeding the 5000 at Christmas. What’s more, adding display advertising on digital news brands to your plan drives 40% greater attention versus the average top 500 non-news brand site, supercharging your campaign’s effectiveness.
Festive news brand advertising boosts the bottom line
We all love to see what creative masterpieces brands come up with for their Christmas campaign, but the bottom line is that print and digital news brands are vital elements of the media mix for supermarkets. From recall to action, supermarkets perform better than the industry average in metrics across the marketing funnel.
Take a look at our deck full of the latest Christmas supermarket insights below.
