Mirela
We all know Christmas is a massive shopping event in many places. But let’s be real: Christmas is not the same everywhere. For some cultures, it’s a deeply meaningful, traditional time. For others, it’s just a fun and temporary seasonal event. In some places, it’s not even celebrated. That’s why you can’t just take a single marketing campaign and expect it to work everywhere.
The best thing to do is to look at how different cultures actually celebrate—or don’t celebrate—Christmas. Only then you can create holiday campaigns that are relevant to your target audiences. Here’s what you need to know to get started with Christmas localization.
Why localization matters for Christmas marketing
Christmas is not a universal religious or cultural event. Consequently, when you’re creating marketing campaigns for the winter holidays, you can’t just copy-paste them to new markets. Here are a few reasons you need to localize them:
- The meaning of the holiday changes.
- Shopping dates and behavior differ.
- The visuals must be adapted.
Localization for Christmas will have you adapt the entire customer experience, from language, tone, and product fit to incorporating local payment methods. If you tailor your campaign to cultural realities, you can significantly increase the likelihood of success during (what many would say is) the most critical retail season.
How Christmas is experienced around the world
For many markets, Christmas is one of the highest-spending seasons of the year. For others, just like any other time of the year. We need to look at how our audiences celebrate the winter holidays to see just how we can localize them… or if it’s worth crafting holiday campaigns at all during this period.
Western Europe and North America
In these regions, Christmas is everywhere. It’s cultural, (very) commercial, and in many communities, still religious. Families gather, people exchange gifts, and many cities go all-out with decorations. There’s a strong emotional emphasis on nostalgia, comfort, and being “home.” You’ve probably noticed that storytelling, not just products, drives a lot of Christmas marketing here.
But even within the West, there are differences. For example, in Spain and Mexico, the gift-giving spotlight is often on January 6th, not December 25th. And in some parts of Europe, children believe gifts come from figures other than Santa, like the Christkind or the Three Kings.
Latin America
Christmas in many Latin American countries is loud, warm, and community-focused. Celebrations often start long before December 25th and center around gatherings, food, music, and neighborhood events. The emotional tone tends to be communal rather than cozy, and the season can be more spiritually expressive as well. This is not a place for campaigns that rely more on subtle moodiness and minimalism!
Asia
Asia is a continent where Christmas really shifts meaning depending on the country. In Japan, Christmas is more like a romantic holiday for couples. In South Korea, it’s a public holiday with a mix of religious and secular traditions. In China and India, Christmas tends to be celebrated mostly in cities, among younger people or Christian communities, but it’s not a national cultural moment for most of the population.
The Middle East and North Africa
In many predominantly Muslim countries, Christmas is recognized but not widely celebrated. Some cities will still decorate for it because of tourism or expat communities, but that’s about it. In these markets, it would be wise to position campaigns around “year-end,” “winter,” or “seasonal celebration” themes instead of Christmas specifically.
Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere
And then there’s the weather. While marketers often default to snowy Christmas scenes, remember that December is summer in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, and much of Brazil. So a sweater-and-fireplace ad would be downright laughable in these sunny and warm places. Localization here may be as simple as acknowledging the temperature.
What about the greetings?
Greetings are a really important part of Christmas localization because they’re often the first thing your audience sees. We’re used to hearing “Merry Christmas,” but this is not always the most appropriate greeting. If you move into regions where the holiday is less tied to religion, or where multiple religions are practiced side-by-side, the greeting becomes more neutral.
Sometimes, a more general “Happy Holidays” will sound better. This option is used because it acknowledges that people may be celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s festivities, or nothing at all. Messages like “Season’s Greetings,” “Festive Wishes,” or “Warm Wishes for the New Year” also feel more natural and respectful for some cultures.
So, what’s the strategy?
First things first: you need a content calendar with key Christmas dates in each target region. This includes any local customs, shipping deadlines, and promotional timings. You need to make sure your content and campaigns are culturally aligned and timely.
Visuals matter too! Most of the times, what you use for one market, won’t be fit for another. Adapt holiday messages, images, colors, and symbols to reflect local Christmas traditions or alternative holidays celebrated during the same season.
Another important consideration is any holiday promotion you may run during this time. You’ll likely need to tailor sales, discounts, and product bundles to what appeals locally during Christmas. Use narratives and visuals that reflect local Christmas stories, customs, and celebrations to create a genuine local connection.
But how can you reach your audience in this day and age? Well, one of the best ways is to leverage local influencers. Find relevant local influencers and celebrities, or include charity events in Christmas campaigns to increase community engagement.
Extra tips
- Coordinate early with localization teams to have enough time for cultural adaptation and quality control.
- Use data and competitor analysis to understand local holiday consumer behavior and preferences.
- Combine translation with cultural customization for meaningful engagement.
- And as always: test your localized content with native speakers before the full launch.
Wrapping up
At the end of the day, Christmas is a feeling, not just a date on a calendar. And it changes depending on where you are and who you’re talking to. When it comes to Christmas localization, you need to slow down, pay attention, and shape your message to match the traditions, mood, and meaning of each place.
To conclude, the question here is “How do people here celebrate, and how can we meet them there?” because a big Christmas message for everyone isn’t always the solution.