Major shopping occasions: winning with identity, not discounts.
When the entire industry competes on price, a well-crafted campaign visual is what helps you be remembered, not just chosen for being cheaper.
Major shopping occasions like Valentine's Day, Black Friday, or year-end holidays are when all competitors lower prices and use red, so distinctive identity is more important than just a slight discount. Sinh Vũ recommends creating a core campaign imagery system for each occasion, then quickly replicating it across multiple platforms, channels, and sales points using an adaptive set of guidelines, rather than letting each channel create its own. Prepare weeks in advance to ensure enough variations are produced and maintain identity assets across occasions for cumulative recognition over time.
- choose a strong campaign recognition direction, not just discount numbers when wanting to maintain brand value.
- choose a flexible system that can adapt quickly when needing to cover multiple products and formats in a short time.
- Prepare the visual system weeks in advance to keep up with the production of promotional materials and advertising variations.
- You only provide discount banners similar to competitors, so no one remembers which brand it is.
- Create a metal frame immediately without a wide cover and production.
During major shopping events, retail advertising boards are almost identical: red backgrounds, yellow text, large percentage numbers. When everything looks the same, shoppers do not remember which brand it is; they only remember who offers the biggest discount. This is a strategic issue, not merely a creative one. You need a visual system that stands out in that crowd, not just the cheapest option of the week.
Why distinctive identity is more important than deep discounts
Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute, specifically Jenni Romaniuk's work on distinctive brand assets (the visual elements, colors, and shapes that help recognize a brand instantly), shows that when buyers are in a purchasing mindset, distinctive brand assets trigger brand recall in their minds. Major shopping occasions are the peak of that state: buyers are ready to spend.
The issue is that if your campaign visuals are no different from your competitors, the identity assets will not be effective because they are drowned in the common colors and visual language of the entire industry. Reducing slightly more does not compensate for being forgotten right after the event.
Factors to consider when planning the event imagery
- The annual event schedule is busy: even-numbered days (10/10, 11/11, 12/12), Black Friday, Online Friday, year-end holidays, and Tet. Each occasion has different consumer psychology characteristics.
- Many channels must be covered simultaneously: e-commerce platforms, social media, paid ads, email, and physical retail locations. Each channel has its own formatting standards.
- The speed of producing variations must be quick in the short time before and during the occasion.
- Sales pressure during major events can easily cause the entire visual budget to be funneled into discount messaging, eroding long-term brand positioning.
Byron Sharp in How Brands Grow emphasizes that broadening the buyer base within a category (category reach) and linking the brand to purchase triggers (category entry points) is more effective than solely targeting a small group of loyal customers. Major shopping occasions are when those triggers are extremely high, making broad reach more important than ever.
When to choose which direction
Option A: Strong identity campaign, discount message as a supporting role. Suitable when the brand already has clear identity assets and wants to maintain positioning without being dragged down to a low-cost brand. The campaign imagery stands out through the brand's distinctive elements, with the discount appearing but not being the only thing the viewer remembers.
Direction B: Quick variant framework, prioritizing channel coverage speed. Suitable when needing to cover multiple platforms and formats in a very short time. There is a set of original campaign images and a clear adaptation guideline for the content team to create variants without needing to review each one from scratch.
In practice, these two directions are not mutually exclusive. Executing the original campaign correctly allows for quick variations without losing brand identity.
Common mistakes during the campaign season
- Creating visuals close to the event date, without enough time to produce point-of-sale materials, and not having time to approve ads on platforms.
- Each channel and platform operates in its own way due to the lack of a standard system, resulting in customers seeing many different versions of the same brand at the same time.
- Sacrificing the entire identity asset to chase the visual language of the occasion, for example, changing the brand color to red and black for Black Friday. After the event, recognition does not accumulate because viewers do not know which brand it is.
- Only optimize for desktop while most traffic comes from mobile, according to the best practices of Meta for Business and TikTok for Business.
Distinctive identity assets are a true competitive advantage during shopping, not just a discount. Buyers remember the brand through consistent elements repeated over time and space, not because of a 50% off banner that appears once and then disappears.
Jenni Romaniuk, Building Distinctive Brand Assets, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
The viewpoint of Sinh Vũ
Sinh Vũ's approach is to create a core campaign image system for shopping occasions, then develop a set of adaptation rules so that the client's team can independently produce variants that meet the standards for each platform without needing to go through Sinh Vũ each time. The core system maintains the brand's core identity assets, while the occasion layer is applied on top without erasing the underlying identity.
Sinh Vũ does not set communications and does not commit to sales for the occasion. The value Sinh Vũ provides is an image system that helps the brand stand out through differentiation and consistency, not by deeper discounts than competitors. Binet and Field in the IPA study indicate that a strong brand foundation helps businesses avoid having to deeply discount to sell during the occasion; this is a point Sinh Vũ believes in and follows.
You need to note that this is Sinh Vũ's perspective as a service provider for design and brand operations, not a neutral consultant. Budget decisions and overall communication strategies should also consider insights from a media agency or media planning partner.
Decision checklist
Topic: Retail images for major shopping events of the year. Sinh Vũ guide, sinhvu.com
Select each item you find appropriate, then print or save as PDF to take with you.
If you have marked most of the signs above, this is the time to discuss in more detail. Sinh Vũ can help you review and propose a direction.
References
Jenni Romaniuk, Building Distinctive Brand Assets (Ehrenberg-Bass Institute); Byron Sharp, How Brands Grow (Ehrenberg-Bass); Les Binet & Peter Field, IPA Databank; TikTok for Business, Creative Best Practices; Meta for Business. Practical experience from Sinh Vũ Studio.
Frequently asked questions
How long in advance should images be prepared for shopping events?
There is no standard number applicable to all businesses, but the practical principle is to have an original image system before needing to produce variations with enough time for review, adjustments, and production of point-of-sale items. For campaigns with physical points of sale, the timeline needs to be longer because printing and shipping cannot be done close to the date. Sinh Vũ usually starts creating the original image system at least a few weeks before the occasion, depending on the complexity of each project.
Does each occasion require completely new images or can existing ones be reused?
There is no need to completely refresh each occasion, and doing so can actually backfire because recognition does not accumulate. Core identity assets such as primary colors, fonts, and distinctive elements should be maintained across occasions, while adding seasonal visual language on top. This approach saves production costs and helps customers recognize the brand even when they quickly scroll past.
Is it necessary to differentiate for each e-commerce platform?
Necessary, because each platform has different formatting standards and user behaviors, but adapting content for each platform does not mean creating it from scratch. The correct approach is to build a set of original campaign visuals and then establish clear guidelines on which elements to keep unchanged and which to adjust for each platform and format. This way, the content team can produce variations quickly while remaining consistent, without having to guess each time.