Emma Macdonald is Professor of Marketing at WBS. She joined WBS from Cranfield School of Management where she was head of the Marketing & Sustainability faculty and co-Director of the Customer Management Forum. Before joining Cranfield she was a doctoral researcher at London Business School. Prior to joining the academic world, Emma worked in telecomms, including marketing management for professional services at Cable & Wireless Optus, and as a commercial researcher for leading consumer brands.
The company says it has deviated slightly from the style of its previous festive ads due to Covid-19.
There's already heightened sensitivity, we're all a bit touchy, because life is a bit tougher. As a business, they need to sell things to keep going. But, you know, a lot of people are saying we can't actually be buying things, we're struggling, we don't have as much money as usual. So that is a tricky balance for them. At the moment, it's really important for brands to stand for something meaningful, rather than just selling lots of stuff.