Brands bet on ’12 days of deals’ and other limited-time drops to drum up excitement between Cyber Monday and Christmas

Still, others are looking to Christmas classics to inspire their FOMO-inducing deal. Many brands are running campaigns that play on the classic Christmas song “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Water bottle brand S’well, for example, kicked off a 12 Days of Surprises campaign on Dec. 4, where, each day, the brand is offering promotions on categories like its travel containers and sets. Meanwhile, the hair-coloring brand Overtone launched a 12 Days of Deals campaign last week, featuring daily promotions across products. Even Kroger is hopping on the trend with its 12 Days of Merry Deals, featuring rotating discounts as customers shop holiday cooking essentials.

According to marketing experts, brands are dangling irresistible deals and product releases that are here today but gone tomorrow to not only get customers’ attention but also keep them coming back to their website daily to see what’s new.

An IRL advent calendar

This year, fashion cowboy boot brand Miron Crosby is using a daily countdown tactic not for sales, but to drum up excitement for new product releases. Starting Dec. 1, the company began a 12-day serialized product drop called “The 12 Days of MC,” inspired by the advent calendar and the “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Each day brings a new limited-edition boot design, with some designs produced in as few as 15-30 pairs. 

The sneaker drop-like model appears to be working. Sarah Means Ward and Lizzie Means Duplantis, co-founders of Miron Crosby, said that in the first two days of the campaign, site sessions were up over 60% year-over-year, and boots from the collection exceeded normal launch sales by 50%. “These early insights feel promising to how the campaign and collection will perform holistically and are super exciting,” Means Duplantis said.

Miron Crosby tried to structure the campaign as a nostalgia play. “We wanted to create something that delivered that same surprise-and-delight feeling you get when opening presents,” Means Ward said. The idea was born over a year ago and has been in the works since.

Having something that would bring shoppers in between the end of Cyber Monday and the start of last-minute Christmas orders was also helpful for logistical reasons. “The Dec. 1 through Dec. 12 window lets each design have its moment while building a rhythm that keeps our community coming back every day,” Means Duplantis said.

For the actual campaign, the company wanted each boot that’s introduced to be a nod back to the “12 Days of Christmas,” while still feeling true to its Texas roots. On the second day of the campaign, the company unveiled its hot-pink Sophie boot featuring ⁠an appliqué “y’all,” which comes in a matching mommy-and-me version.

Each reveal in the 12 Days of MC is shared daily across Instagram, TikTok, paid channels and email. Additionally, a print catalog was sent to Miron Crosby’s top customers ahead of the announcement. The catalog, in particular, is a core element of the strategy, and is on trend, with more retailers tapping the analog marketing format this year. “Our goal with this campaign was rooted in engagement, storytelling and long-term brand equity,” Means Ward said.

Because the marketing campaign calls for new drops every day, the founders said it was a big undertaking for the team. But it was one that they felt was worth the investment. Last year, Miron Crosby saw its highest-ever sales volume during the holiday season. So this year, the company wanted to build on that momentum by introducing a unique release schedule and accompanying campaign that keeps the brand top of mind throughout the month. 

“Our boots are handmade by master artisans, and each pair takes months to design, cut and stitch,” Means Ward said. “So launching 12 styles in 12 days is definitely a creative sprint.” 

Sleepwear and lifestyle brand Roller Rabbit has also found inspiration in the “12 Days of Christmas.” For the past few years, Roller Rabbit has run a “12 Days of Printmas” campaign, which it’s once again bringing back this month. Throughout its run, the brand is unveiling a new, limited-edition pajama and accessories print at 12 p.m. EST every day.

Carolyn Phillips, Roller Rabbit’s chief marketing officer, said the company’s “12 Days of Printmas” has become a beloved tradition among customers. This year, the campaign kicked off with a “Mint Monkey Mas” print design in collaboration with Starbucks.

“We always kick off this initiative at the beginning of December, wanting to continue holiday momentum beyond the Black Friday-Cyber Monday excitement,” Phillips said. This year, the company is promoting the collection’s rollout on its brand-owned channels, as well as tapping its network of influencers to post and promote it across their pages.

Another change is that the brand is also carrying the drops across its 12 stores, not just online. “We hope the promotion’s exclusivity and limited-edition nature build buzz and drive brand awareness,” Phillips said, to help acquire and convert new people to the brand.

Why alluring flash deals work

MichaelAaron Flicker, founder of the Consumer Behavior Lab, told Modern Retail that daily deal countdowns are a great example of stacking multiple behavioral science biases that can drive real results for brands.  

Flicker said that some of the key psychological insights into why these work so well include scarcity bias, loss aversion to amazing deals and the all-important dopamine release.

“The countdown visually reinforces the idea that the deal is limited in time, making the offer feel more exclusive and desirable than it rationally is,” Flicker said.

And in behavioral economics, he said, loss aversion “reveals people’s pain of losing an opportunity is twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining something of equal value.” Then there is dopamine release, which can act as the biggest feel-good marketing strategy, especially in such uncertain times. “This positive feeling reinforces the purchasing behavior and makes the shopping experience feel addictive,” Flicker said.

Miron Crosby, which is new to the strategy, is finding the customers’ reaction promising. “The numbers tell us the excitement is there, but what matters just as much is how many new and returning customers are coming back every single morning excited for the next reveal,” Means Duplantis said.