Christmas in Our Hearts: Celebrating the Filipino’s Favorite Fiesta in the Digital Age
2019. The dawn of 5G. 76M people with internet access. A mobile-first mindset. 10/10, 11/11, 12/12 sales. Cashless modes of payment. Spotify playlists. And almost any food you want right at your doorstep.
As the Philippines marches onward in the digital age, how have the countless changes in the Filipino’s way of life altered how they celebrate their favorite time of the year?
AdSpark found that no matter how they celebrate, and in the digital age or any other, the Filipinos will always have a special place for Christmas in their hearts.
How does Christmas come around? Every Filipino knows it begins in September, but what are the other telltale signs? If before, it was your neighbor putting on their decor, what does the leadup to Christmas look like digitally?
The Philippines remains one of the largest audiences for Christmas, ranking 7th in Google Search Trends for the keyword “Christmas” and amassing nearly 1.4M mentions in a day during Christmas 2018.
In fact, the Philippines’ months-long Christmas season — starting in September and ending around the first week of January — is a source of pride for many Filipinos.
But Filipinos aren’t shy about talking about or reading up about Christmas outside of the -ber months, either. Scans show that Christmas is being mentioned by Filipinos as early as February, via a #manilaencounters tweet — that’s just how ingrained Christmas is in our culture.
Furthermore, content consumption reveals continued interest in Christmas regardless of the month or season, even outside of -ber months. In spite of this, a waning heed to the season is apparent in Filipinos over time — at least in search trends.
While some may suggest that this decrease in interest is due to the increasingly consumerist side of Christmas, content consumption suggests that people are more concerned about upholding Christmas traditions, meaning there is no need to consume or create any more content about Christmas — they already know what they want to do.
Indeed, the spirit of Christmas is not yet lost on us Filipinos — it’s just taking on other forms, such as winning the Miss Universe crown for your country, or reuniting estranged celebrity families.
It’s also possible that the spirit of celebration has spread throughout other holidays such as Halloween, Holy Week, and Thanksgiving, all of which have seen an increase in interest over the past few years. Perhaps more than they love Christmas, Filipinos just really love any reason to see their loved ones and celebrate regardless of the occasion.
Some things, like our collective love for all things Christmas, just never change — we just find bigger and better ways to show our love. Using AdSpark Intelligence, we explored what Christmas means to Filipinos nowadays, and answered questions such as:
Curious? Download the full Christmas in Our Hearts report now. |
