W H Y O O H I N Q 1 ?

A WIDE VARIETY OF EVENTS TAKING PLACE ACROSS Q1

Mother’s Day31st March

London Fashion Week15th -19th February

Oscars24th February

Golden Week4th-10th February

Blue Monday21st January

World Economic Forum22nd – 25th January

Six Nations 1st February – 16th March

Dry January

Brexit Deadline29th March

Valentine’s Day14th February

Source – Adweek,, NHS, BBC

A FRESH START TO THE NEW YEAR

People want to

actively change,

learn something

new, try different

things and are

more open to

new experiences

• Over 9 million smokers in the UK, with two-thirds wanting to quit.

• On average, in the process of quitting people will increase expenditure on food.

• January is a time when hope and optimism is strongest.

• 67% of singletons want to find love in the new year.

• The dating game causes high social activity in bars, restaurants and cinemas.

• January is the boom month for online dating.

TOP RESOLUTIONS

Relevant to a variety of brands:

1. Exercise more 38%

2. Lose weight 33%

3. Eat more healthily 32%

4. Take a more active approach to health 15%

5. Learn new skill or hobby 15%

6. Spend more time on personal wellbeing 12%

7. Spend more time with family and friends 12%

8. Drink less alcohol 12%

9. Stop smoking 9%

10. Other 1%

Source – ComRes Poll

• January is the key time for brands to be targeting health and fitness.

• In the UK people spend approx. £3bn on fitness equipment and gym memberships in January.

• Spend on wellness and fitness set to rise to £10.4bn by 2020.

• ‘Dry January’ is on the up with over 3m Brits planning to take on the challenge.

• The retail sector faces new targets to reduce salt, sugar, portion sizes.

• Over 160,00 people signed up to “Veganuary”

Source – Independent, YouGov, Statista

HEALTH AND FITNESS

HOLIDAY AND TRAVEL

• 70% believe that having a holiday to look forward to is the key to fighting

the winter gloom.

• 1 in 3 see a holiday as an ‘essential buy’ to start the new year with a bang.

• City breaks and Winter Sun holidays in January are also on the up (19%) as people take advantage of cheaper deals and less crowded destinations.

• 81% of people booked their holiday online last year and 22% of younger and older families booked instore.

Source – ABTA, Expedia

OVER ONE THIRD OF HOLIDAYS ARE BOOKED IN Q1

Online searches related to holidays, cruises and skiing all increase in January

Travel +21%

Holidays +36%

Skiing +26%

Cruise +25%

Source – ABTA, Primesight

• Named the most depressing day of the year - calculated by a variety of factors: weather, debt, failed

resolutions and the number of days that have elapsed since Christmas.

• Travel retailers see sales peak on this day as consumers attempt to combat the ‘back to work blues’

• Previous years have seen a surge in sales of comfort foods and single serve dishes.

• Opportunities for tactical messaging on the day.

BLUE MONDAY

• Whilst early sales such as Black Friday/ Cyber Monday continue to pull spend forward the post Christmas sales are still key to retailers.

• It was estimated that over one third of the UK’s population took part in Boxing Day sales last year spending over £4bn.

• High end good particularly attractive to tourists - with Chinese, Middle Eastern and US shoppers spending four or five times the amount of a UK shopper (making most of the weak pound)

• Harrods received one million customers during the four-week winter sale.

• Selfridges banked £4m in the first three hours of its sale with the retailer reporting that Boxing Day would be its biggest trading day of the year after 120,000 shoppers trekked to the London

store.

Source – Global Blue, Barclaycard, VoucherCodes, Centre for Retail Research.

ONGOING POST CHRISTMAS SALES RUNNING INTO JANUARY

• Q1 traditionally sees the release of the films that will be nominated for awards such as the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, with the quarter being coined the ‘Oscar corridor’ of film releases.

• This is the perfect time to associate brands with the high quality film fare of the awards season e.g. up-weight of existing campaign.

• Jan-Mar ABC1’s make up 71% of all cinema admissions (up 6% on the rest of the year)

• The 25+ audience rises by 12% in same period.

• In previous years over 80% of all ABC1 25-44 year olds went to the cinema in Awards Season. Their average dwell time in the foyer is 20mins, 3mins more than average cinema goers.

• We are 48% more likely to see a film if it’s been BAFTA or Oscar nominated.

• Recent scandals surrounding Hollywood and the film industry has seen surge in coverage of key events.

FILM GOING AND AWARDS CORRIDOR SEASON

O P P O R T U N I T I E S A N D

I N S P I R A T I O N

JANUARY

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

VALENTINE’S DAY

MOTHER’S DAY

GOLDEN WEEK

SIX NATIONS

POLITICS