Christmas coverage is won in July: how the golden quarter really works

The midpoint of the year seems like a crazy time to start thinking about Christmas, right? Well, in the world of PR, this is the sweet spot. July to September is considered the ‘golden quarter’ for securing Christmas coverage.

For our consumer clients at Lucky North, Christmas is a great time to shine, positioning our clients alongside other well-known players in the industry, ensuring product placement, strong share of voice and visibility in those target titles. As PRs, we’re extremely organised, so planning Christmas six months early is just part of the process!

How does the golden quarter actually work?

The golden quarter is a prime window to pitch to long-lead glossy publications spanning women’s lifestyle, fashion, tech, and food and drink. During July and August, long-lead monthly magazines begin to compile their festive gift guides. Securing a spot early ensures your brand is front and centre in key features, such as gifts for him or her and stocking fillers, well before short-lead regional press and national online titles close their festive deadlines.

Cutting through the noise

Many long and short lead publications have an appointed gift guide writer or tester, so you can imagine the number of emails they receive in the run-up to the Christmas period. It really is fastest finger first and hundreds of those emails are regularly deleted once the guide is closed, so hitting the mark first time is essential to securing cut-through and ensuring your hard work pays off.

Key areas to consider include ensuring subject lines are clear and concise, as this is your main opportunity to capture a journalist’s attention. It’s also crucial to target the right contacts - some publications set up dedicated gift guide email addresses for the festive season that route directly to team members managing those features. For product placement, high-res cut-out imagery is essential, alongside the product name, details and RRP clearly outlined to make the journalist’s job as seamless as possible.

For consumer brands, it is also worth remembering that journalists typically insist on testing items prior to including them. Far from being a hurdle, this hands-on approach provides a brilliant opportunity for journalists to truly engage with what you offer.

Sending samples opens doors, yet it further reiterates why early outreach during these golden months is so vital, giving you ample time to arrange delivery, allow the journalists to really test your product and secure that all-important coverage. Journalists face tight limits on physical storage and page space, whether in print, online, or at delivery addresses, so ensuring product sampling is smooth and mutually beneficial is key to sparking a strong, ongoing media relationship.

The end result

There’s nothing better than seeing your product in an online article or glossy magazine at any point in the year, never mind Christmas. With such a buzz, build-up, and UK consumer spending over the six-week Christmas trading period projected to hit a record £93.76 billion this year, the countdown to Christmas can allow you to be part of the magic and really benefit from the brand exposure, supporting sales, web traffic and overall awareness and credibility, creating real value and strong ROI.

Earning a spot in the annual gift guides of highly-regarded publications like The Guardian, The Independent, and The Metro not only drives brand awareness but also enhances a brand’s AI visibility, an increasingly impactful metric, which shouldn’t be overlooked.

Over the years at Lucky North, we have secured some incredible pieces of Christmas coverage for our clients, with our standout highlights including The Daily Mirror, The Guardian and Observer, My Weekly, The Sauce, Chelsea Life and The Week. So although it may seem early, planning ahead really does pay off!

Not engaged a PR team yet? Fear not - digital and shorter lead gift guides are still open to hearing more. Get in touch today - we’d love to help!