and Brian McDevitt, Managing Director, Home and Personal Care, Google<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The holiday season is upon us, but consumers are celebrating differently than they have in years past as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. The availability of vaccines marks a major difference this year from the 2020 holiday season. Yet, uncertainty about gatherings lingers under the shadow of the delta variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As holiday celebrations could be put on hold for another year by many, people are looking to brands as a source of inspiration for creative ways to celebrate. Always a part of holiday preparations, consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies now have a particularly influential role in how people shop and celebrate this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most innovative CPG brands have recognized the need for data-driven marketing to evolve with these sweeping changes. Leveraging Google consumer signals, they are showcasing their brands to consumers with the right messages at the right time this holiday season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going big and prepping early<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CPG brands are central to holiday celebrations and shopping: In the U.S., Food and Beverage is the most commonly purchased category across seasonal moments. For example, 87% of people shopping during Thanksgiving buy in the category. For New Year\u2019s festivities it\u2019s 79% and for Halloween it\u2019s 61%.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n As excitement about the 2021 holidays grows after a relatively quiet 2020 season, brand marketers have much to look forward to. While 47% of U.S. consumers say that COVID-19 will impact how they shop during the holidays,2<\/sup> many are already planning celebrations \u2014 and are doing so early. Over the summer, year-over-year Google searches for \u201chow many days till halloween\u201d grew globally by over 80%, while year-over-year searches for \u201ccostume ideas\u201d and \u201chow many days until Christmas\u201d each grew by 60%. And as of August 2021, 61% of U.S. holiday shoppers say they will plan their shopping early to avoid items being out of stock.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Google Data, Global English, June 22, 2021\u2013Aug. 20, 2021 vs. June 22, 2020\u2013Aug. 20, 2020.<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n![\"Spooky](\"https:\/\/network.advertisingweek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/external\/549a0d8fc87329d40719455c63c8def1\/2116_CPG-Brands-Redefining-Approach-this-Holiday-Season_INLINE.gif\")