Worldwide, no event brings culture and business closer together than Christmas.
Despite being a Christian event, about 80 percent of non-Christians participate in some kind of explicit Christmas holiday, according to the Harvard Crimson.
If every person in the 2.5 billion BRIC population spent 50 additional dollars on Christmas, this would generate around 120 bn USD in revenue (around the GDP of Hungary).
The Biggest Cultural Marketing Case Study of Mankind
Business reinforces culture, which reinforces business again – it’s the perfect cycle for capitalism.
Coincidence? Certainly not. There is too much money on the line. Especially in thought times, Christmas could be the big budget savior for many corporations. I would even say that Christmas is the biggest media manipulation of human kind. Bestselling Author on media manipulation, Ryan Holiday confirmed to share the same view after reaching out to him via email (wanted to get an expert opinion before making the claim).
Here’s what makes Christmas even more interesting from the BRIC perspective:
- Except Brazil, no other BRIC country carries Christmas from their old traditions.
- The other BRIC countries are increasingly developing Christmas habits.
- The mystique of Christmas is a fertile ground for marketers.
- Economic development leads to aspiration, which leads to hedonistic consumption.
The goal of this article is two-fold:
- To raise awareness of the economic impact of Christmas in the BRIC countries
- To provide a big-picture overview as a starting point for business plan
The Relevance of Christmas in the BRIC countries
Christmas is huge in Brazil. It is the country with the highest number of Catholics in the world. The strong family values, emotional nature of the people and the attitude of always wanting to celebrate something make Christmas a mega-event.
Russia celebrates Christmas on January 7th according to the Orthodox Branch of Christianity. It is celebrated at home with family members, mainly by religious people. Families come together, enjoy festive food, and exchange presents at midnight.
80% of India’s population is Hindu, thus they do not have an official Christmas celebration. Yet many more people than the 20 million Indian Christians celebrate Christmas. Especially families with children participate in some kind of rituals like decorating a Christmas tree or gift giving. Schools organize for instance Christmas lunches which exposes Children from all religions to Christmas traditions from an early age. The fact of having about 100 million English speakers directly connected to western influence over the internet further stimulates the growth of Christmas celebration in India. We expect Christmas to gain massive relevance in the decades to come.
Similar to India, Christmas is not an official holiday in most of China. The Chinese government endorses atheism, so any data on Christmas in China is either highly dubious our brutally inaccurate. In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, Christmas is becoming more popular, mainly through commercial stimulus. In rural areas, people are starting to gain awareness of it. The best equivalent to western Christmas would be the Chinese New Year. Both events are gaining relevance within the Chinese community, in China and abroad. Here some coverage of the Chinese New Year in London for example. It will be interesting to see how both events develop and shape each other in China and around the world.
China has strong national traditions which are protected and driven by the central government, thus a Christmas holiday and celebration, as we know it in the west, will probably not become a major issue in China in the foreseeable future.
How the Legend of Christmas Affects Retail Sales in the BRICS
Christmas has an important impact on retail sales in Brazil. In 2012, retail sales rose in December by 8.4%. The economic slow-down, inflation, and accumulated consumption debt have put the brakes on this year’s sales (2013), which only grew by 4.5%, almost half the volume of the year before. Under healthy macro economic conditions, Christmas has a huge sales impact. This is supported by various national traditions.
Of all the BRIC countries, Russia seems to have the least growth potential for the Christmas Market. Their GDP per capita is already elevated and they are not experiencing a cultural boom like India and China. The big discrepancy between rich and poor also plays its impact on the local market as many wealthy Russians go abroad for Christmas shopping, weakening the local market.
In December 2012, retail sales increased up to 30% compared to 2011 in India. The trend did not repeat; in 2013, when various retailers claimed a drop of about 20% and in certain segments even up to 50%. While there are different reasons for the ups and downs, it is certain that India’s deficient infrastructure limits Christmas sales with many traffic jams and other inconveniences. From a long-term perspective, India is nevertheless a hot market to watch for the cultural reasons mentioned in the last section.
Compared to Christmas, other Chinese holidays have a much bigger sales impact such as the Chinese New Year or Singles’s day (Guanggun Jie). With the ongoing growth of consumer spending and disposable income, retailers create a Christmas shopping environment with special offers, which is reason enough to generate sales of a traditional Western and Christian story.
What to Watch for if You Sell Relevant Goods for the Christmas Market
Despite some of the above mentioned implications the surest bet is China. The easiest consumer groups to sell to are people born in the 80s and later. Two very interesting submarkets are:
- Middle and upper-class children, also called little emperors for their consumption habits.
- Young and wealthy professionals, who are spending more and more on luxury.
Brazil solely depends on the economic development; the stage is already set.
India is a market to watch closely since it has a huge potential which could be overlooked by foreign companies which are not aware of the cultural shift.
Russia, in my opinion, is the least attractive from a global perspective. Wealthy Russians like to shop in the UK and Dubai. For certain retail outlets in the UK, Russian buyers represent a big share of their total Christmas sales with up to 20% of the overall. What could be interesting here would be for retailers in the UK and Dubai to establish a direct connection to these consumers via a social media or a customer relationship management program.
Do you want to know more in detail about what happens in people’s homes during Christmas celebration? The best way to go about it is to ask some local contacts or just to send us an email.
