Moonpig Launch New Multi-Channel Brand Platform at Christmas
Agency: Modern Citizens | Production: Glassworks

Agency: Modern Citizens | Production: Glassworks
In preparation for Christmas, which marked the launch of a year-round, multi-channel brand platform, Moonpig aimed to emphasise its personalisation features through an engaging and emotionally resonant ad. Operating in the highly competitive gifts and retailers category, Moonpig faced the dual challenge of differentiating itself while making a memorable impact during the festive season. Although few of its direct competitors advertise at Christmas, the broader landscape of festive campaigns is saturated with strong, high-performing ads, making it difficult to stand out.
Central to Moonpig’s strategy was the integration of their revived pig mascot, a proven success since its 2021 comeback. The challenge was ensuring the mascot could seamlessly embody the festive spirit while effectively communicating the brand’s breadth and variety. Moonpig sought to leverage this campaign to carve out a distinctive position, blending festive cheer, emotional resonance, and clear messaging to engage consumers and reinforce its unique brand identity.
In May 2024, Moonpig used System1’s Test Your Ad Pro solution to evaluate whether their Christmas campaign storyboard resonated with consumers and was clearly understood ahead of finalisation. By pre-testing at the storyboard stage, Moonpig had the flexibility to refine and optimise the campaign to align with their objectives before its November launch.
The pre-test delivered valuable insights, including an assessment of emotional resonance using System1’s quantitative Star Rating and an analysis of whether the ad was branded early and prominently enough for clear attribution to Moonpig. The Pro report also included key consumer verbatims and associations, which helped the team gauge the impact of the messaging and identify areas for improvement.
Notably, ‘personalised’ emerged as the third most common spontaneous association, alongside mentions such as ‘special card’ and ‘bespoke personalised’. These results reassured the Moonpig team that their core messaging was landing effectively.
Pre-testing early allowed Moonpig to fine-tune the ad further, ensuring maximum commercial impact upon airing. Leveraging System1’s Expert Guidance module, the team received actionable recommendations to optimise the creative across five key areas: story, fluent device, visuals, fluency (brand recognition), and consumer understanding.
These recommendations were incorporated into a rough cut of the ad, which was tested again in September 2024. The second test revealed a significant uplift in emotional resonance while maintaining strong associations with personalisation, reinforcing the effectiveness of the adjustments.
“We were thrilled with the positive consumer response to the campaign and its early success in delivering the right message. However, we wanted to take it further, ensuring it wasn’t just a great Moonpig ad, but one that could stand out among the exceptional Christmas creativity,” said Dan Staples, Marketing Director UK, Moonpig.
“While the recommended tweaks were minor, we were surprised by the significant impact they had on consumer engagement. These small adjustments were easily identified using the data from testing and the System1 guidance team, allowing us to incorporate them seamlessly into both the rough and final cuts.”
When the final cut was tested through System1’s Premium ad database (learn more about the process here), which tests ads within 24 hours of airing, the results across System1’s three key metrics were outstanding. It earned a remarkable 5.4 Star Rating, exceptional short-term sales potential, and impressive 97% brand recognition.
Not only did Moonpig rank highly in the 2024 Christmas rankings, but it also achieved its best-ever score on System1’s database. The Moonpig mascot saw the greatest uplift in emotional engagement, with a peak in happiness upon its appearance, alongside a significant rise in brand recognition despite the absence of an explicit logo. This highlights the Moonpig team’s dedication to consistency across their distinctive assets, building an instantly recognisable fluent device.
The ad ranks within the top 3% of category ads for long-term growth potential, demonstrating significant cut-through. Additionally, when tested using System1’s Digital Testing tool, Moonpig outperformed the digital average by +1 star, with consumer feedback centred on personalisation. This confirmed the campaign’s effectiveness for multi-channel use, including YouTube, social media, TV, and radio.