Which brands saw the biggest gains in Ad Awareness over Christmas 2025?

Key findings:

• Baileys recorded the highest lift in Ad Awareness, rising by 19.2 points during the 2025 festive period.
• Marks & Spencer saw strong results across both divisions, with its high street fashion brand rising 17.3 points and M&S Food increasing by 16.9 points.
• John Lewis maintained its position as a Christmas advertising leader, with a 16.8-point gain driven by an emotional campaign focused on family connection.
• Supermarkets remained highly competitive, with Waitrose (+12.7), Sainsbury’s (+10.6), and Asda (+10.2) all achieving double-digit increases in Ad Awareness.

Christmas is a key moment for UK advertisers, with brands launching high-profile campaigns to win consumer attention. YouGov BrandIndex tracks Ad Awareness daily, measuring whether consumers have seen or heard an advertisement for a brand in the past two weeks. Looking at changes between November 1 and December 31, 2025, we can see which brands had the biggest increase in exposure during the festive period.

Baileys leads with biggest Ad Awareness gain

Baileys tops the list with a 19.2-point jump in Ad Awareness, rising from 10.2% at the start of November to 29.4% by the end of December.

Marks & Spencer featured twice in the top performers list — for retail and food. The high street retail brand saw a 17.3-point lift (from 28.6% to 45.9%). Meanwhile, the M&S Food campaign, fronted by Dawn French, pushed Ad Awareness for the supermarket division up by 16.9 points (from 29.3% to 46.2%).

John Lewis continues to drive festive buzz

John Lewis remains a major player in UK Christmas advertising. The 2025 ad followed the story of a dad and his son, and the gift that helps them find their way back to one another. This helped the brand increase Ad Awareness by 16.8 points (from 15.4% to 32.1%) over the two-month period.

Coca-Cola sees seasonal uplift

Coca-Cola’s Christmas marketing relied on long-running assets like the "Holidays Are Coming" ad and the return of its branded truck tour. These well-established festive touchpoints probably helped the brand boost Ad Awareness by 13.1 points (from 17.1% to 30.1%).

Supermarkets compete for attention

Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, and Asda also made strong gains during the season. Waitrose’s ‘The Perfect Gift’ campaign featuring Keira Knightly and Joe Wilkinson had fun, food and festive romance, leading to a 12.7-point rise in Ad Awareness. Sainsbury’s grew 10.6 points off the back of its ‘The Unexpected Guest’ campaign. Asda’s campaign contributed to a 10.2-point lift, suggesting that its Grinch-starring spot has earned the notice of the UK public.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Ad Awareness is based on the question: “Which of the following brands have you seen an advertisement for in the past two weeks?”. Scores are reported as percentages, derived from daily surveys of UK adults. Data is weighted by age, gender, region, social grade, and ethnicity using a raking methodology. Figures are shown as a 4-week moving average between 1 November and 31 December 2025. The change in scores is calculated as the difference between the highest and lowest daily scores within the period.

Image: Getty Images