ADVENT CALENDAR: THE TRIUMPH OF THE PROMOTION CONSTANT

UDC 659.111.2

Maevskaya Elena Vladimirovna – PhD (Philology), Associate Professor, post-doctoral student, Assistant Professor, the Department of Communication Technologies and Public Relations. Belarusian State University (9 Kal’variyskaya str., 220004, Minsk, Republic of Belarus). E-mail: helen@pygmalion.by

DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.52065/2520-6729-2025-291-9.

Key words: advent calendar, packaging, promotion constant, communicative potential of the product, transparent branding, communication, advertising.

For citation: Maevskaya E. V. Advent calendar: the triumph of the promotion constant. Proceedings of BSTU, issue 4, Print- and Mediatechnologies, 2025, no. 1 (291), pp. 63–70 (In Russian). DOI: 10.52065/2520-6729-2025-291-9.

Abstract

The article examines the increasing role of the advertising constant, or promotion constant, in the context of the main global hit of the past Christmas sales – the Advent calendar. The minimal “grocery set” (product – name – packaging), successfully embodied in the format of the most sought-after gift, is still a budget-friendly promotion option, while simultaneously demonstrating its uncomplicated self-sufficiency, as well as relevance and expediency for the manufacturer, seller and buyer. Representing a unique combination of creativity, special festive (Christian, fabulous or glamorous) product packaging and its communication, the phenomenally successful Christmas set of last years is very likely to only strengthen its market position in 2025. The research uses both general scientific (modeling, analysis and synthesis, induction, generalization, classification, observation) and special scientific methods of cognition of reality: media content analysis, qualitative (focus group, in-depth interview) and quantitative (hall test) methods of testing creative packaging. In his analysis, the author relies on accessible scientific and specialized literature and online sources, as well as on his own practice in the field of advertising and branded packaging. As a result of the conducted research, the purpose of which was to increase the status of a promotion constant in the brand’s marketing strategy, and this shows its scientific novelty, the author comes to the conclusion about the increasing importance of revealing the communicative potential of a product in the context of the modern paradigm of transparent branding, the need for responsible and understandable consumer promotion based on the optimization of its ideology, production and consumption, and the profitability of its communication. Using the example of the Advent calendar phenomenon, the effective status of a professionally developed promotion concept is determined a self-sufficient product that arouses genuine customer interest and attracts voluntary promoters.

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