From toothbrushes to paper clips, Harvey Nichols’ special Christmas collection encourages people to buy “a little something” for their loved ones – so they can buy “a bigger something” for themselves. It taps into a growing trend: self-gifting.

Has the crop of Christmas ads in 2015 delivered more of the branded values we saw in 2014? Canvas8 spoke to Alex Gordon, CEO of Sign Salad, about why, this year, these ads are split between those who want to keep the magic alive and those offering something more knowing.

Christmas seems to come earlier every year – or at least the marketing and advertising frenzy that precedes it. Festive madness is becoming even more all-conquering since the arrival of Black Friday in the UK, but how has the way Brits shop and think about Christmas changed?

Back in 2013, Harvey Nichols encouraged people to buy a little something for their loved ones so they could buy a bigger something for themselves. And this self-gifting mentality is here to stay, especially for Gen Y, who are big on treating themselves during the holidays.