Don’t neglect core products when jumping on seasonal trends
Many brands look to capitalise on the festive season by launching themed variants, but as it’s the established products that do the heavy lifting all year round, any promotional activity must benefit the wider brand.
· Marketing WeekOpinion
By Dr Arry Tanusondjaja 13 Nov 2026 6:17 am
There’s no debate when it comes to the importance of core products in a product portfolio. They are similar to load-bearing walls in a building that sustain the brand as it expands.
However, as the year comes to the end, marketers’ attention often shifts to the upcoming festive season. Across many consumer goods categories, brands face pressure from both within their businesses and from retailers to introduce Christmas-themed products to capitalise on seasonal spending.
There’s no debate when it comes to the importance of core products in a product portfolio. They are similar to load-bearing walls in a building that sustain the brand as it expands.
However, as the year comes to the end, marketers’ attention often shifts to the upcoming festive season. Across many consumer goods categories, brands face pressure from both within their businesses and from retailers to introduce Christmas-themed products to capitalise on seasonal spending.
‘Tis the season for red and green pack designs and spiced-gingerbread flavour variants, and promotions to lure buyers to the brand. And just to make the season merrier (and messier), some brands also launch their new products and innovations into the market to take advantage of the high season.
Amid all this seasonal activity, what happens to the products that sustain a brand’s sales throughout the year?
The concern arises when novelty becomes an end in itself, with brands continually introducing products to satisfy internal expectations or retailer demands.
Based on the data shared by What to Stock in 2025, 2024, and 2023, which capture sales from nearly 4,000 independent convenience stores in the UK, we see that core products remain the stalwarts that need to be supported.
For example, the top three bestselling beers have remained unchanged over the past three years. Although their rankings have shifted, the same products have occupied the top 10 positions over the past two years.
The top three bestselling cider products have also remained unchanged across 2024 and 2025. For single-consumption chocolate, three out of the five bestselling products were also consistent across those two years. The biggest selling chocolate block and mints also remained unchanged from 2023 to 2025.
Despite the constant introduction of new products, established bestsellers have proved remarkably difficult to dislodge.
Create excitement
This is not to suggest that brands should refrain from introducing new products, whether for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or other seasonal occasions. New products can create excitement in the category, offer consumers something different, and provide retailers with opportunities to refresh their shelves.
The concern arises when novelty becomes an end in itself, with brands continually introducing products to satisfy internal expectations or retailer demands.
If this comes at the expense of investment in distribution and marketing support for core products, brands may inadvertently neglect the very products that sustain their sales throughout the year.
Research by Andrew Ehrenberg and subsequent studies at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute have shown that new products tend to attract heavier category buyers. These consumers buy the category more frequently, giving them more opportunities to encounter and try new offerings.
Light category buyers, by contrast, purchase less frequently and have fewer opportunities to encounter new products. This presents a challenge for innovations seeking to establish themselves alongside existing bestsellers.
Core brands are vital, not just for their sales contributions, but also because they are the biggest contributors of brand buyers.
Some seasonal products do eventually earn a permanent place in a brand’s portfolio, particularly when their appeal extends beyond the occasion for which they were originally developed.
McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish, for example, was developed in 1962 to meet demand from customers abstaining from meat during Lent. It subsequently became a permanent menu item.
Cadbury, meanwhile, reportedly experimented with selling Creme Eggs throughout the year in the 1980s, before returning to a seasonal approach. The contrasting outcomes illustrate that demand associated with a particular occasion does not necessarily translate into sustained year-round demand.
As Christmas approaches, it is also worth considering whether some of the increased advertising and promotional activity surrounding seasonal products benefits the wider brand, including its core offerings. Consumers may enjoy the reindeer on the packaging or the gingerbread flavour, but the advertising may also serve as a reminder of the familiar brand behind these seasonal offerings.
Core brands are vital, not just for their sales contributions, but also because they are the biggest contributors of brand buyers.
Now, wouldn’t it be nice if we gave our brands that kind of support all year round?
Dr Arry Tanusondjaja is a senior marketing scientist at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute of Marketing Science, the world’s largest centre for research into marketing. For more information about Ehrenberg-Bass visit www.MarketingScience.info