Following last year’s thrilling collaboration, creative agency OTHERWAY has once again joined forces with Fortnum & Mason’s brand team, Berlin-based illustrator Olaf Hajek, and award-winning Studio AKA to create another truly Fantastical Christmas campaign.

This year, we’re invited inside Fortnum & Mason’s iconic 181 Piccadilly store for a magical, sensory tour rich with colour and imagination. A seamless moving camera glides through enchanting rooms inspired by Georgian design with a modern, minimalist twist, featuring festive patterns, a vibrant palette, and charming characters brought to life by Studio AKA’s talented animators.

Our journey begins in the Fizz Room, where a mouse atop a little ladder assiduously paints a label on a giant champagne bottle bursting with bubbles. From there, we pass through a squirrel-run wrapping theatre and a tea room disco where birds spin a tea-strainer mirror ball, before descending with the iconic F&M hamper as it’s filled with Christmas magic, from jingles and baubles to a mouse trapped in a bubble. The film concludes with a snow-covered 181 Piccadilly and the tagline: A Fantastical Christmas.

Directed by Marcus Armitage, the 30-second film is joined by four cut-downs and six striking posters showcasing Fortnum’s festive range. The mixed-media animation beautifully blends Hajek’s whimsical hand-painted 2D art with photorealistic CG, capturing the craft and wonder at the heart of Fortnum & Mason.

The new spot follows on from Otherway’s reimagining of Fortnum’s Christmas 2024 packaging, collaborating closely with the iconic retailer’s product and design teams. The result was a rich, storytelling-themed design concept dubbed ‘Tales of Christmas’, showcased across more than 100 products—from handcrafted Christmas Puddings to Festive Teas. 

Rooted in the narrative language of storytelling, the collection features festive characters, intricate frames, and patterns in a luxurious Georgian inspired Christmas palette. The packaging brings to life the provenance of each product, celebrating the joy of togetherness and seasonal splendour. Renowned for his vibrant, nature-infused artistry, Olaf Hajek hand-painted a series of detailed scenes that blend nature and artifice. These illustrations became the foundation for Otherway’s creative vision, adding depth and enchantment to the designs. 

To elevate the campaign, Otherway, in close collaboration with Fortnum’s marketing and brand teams, partnered with Studio AKA and director Marcus Armitage to also create a series of animated 15-second films featuring five hero products, with an additional 30-second film bringing all of the action together in one place. The animations, inspired by the tactile, paper-like quality of Hajek’s illustrations, combine CG product and photorealistic food renderings, with 2D textures in a whimsical stop-frame style reminiscent of childhood memories. 

The products are set against a beautiful yet simple patterned background to keep the focus on the new items being showcased. With so much happening between the 2D paper-cut illustrations and CG products, it was important not to overcomplicate the films. This multi-media approach was central to Otherway’s brief for the campaign, honouring the tactile and cosy spirit of Hajek’s illustrations while highlighting F&M’s products in all their glory. Both elements posed fun technical challenges for us to overcome, animating Hajek’s designs faithfully to the world he created and building photorealistic renderings of the food products.

“ This year we have crafted a much more ambitious campaign, that aims to bring viewers into the magic of 181 Piccadilly. Pairing up with Otherway for season 2 was brilliant, as we could get straight to work and build on the great things we achieved last year. It was a more intense project all round, with different lighting setups and designs for every floor. We did more animation too, with the roving camera being used to lead your eye downwards through the building. We used MOHO to animate all of the hand painted characters, creating puppets from Olaf’s illustrations that could be brought to life and interact dynamically with the F&M products on display. A highlight for me was the first time seeing the fully lit and rendered ‘Fizz Gallery’ in all its glory. It was so much more epic than I ever imagined.”

— Dir. Marcus Armitage

In addition to the animated films, we created a stills campaign featuring billboards, as well as both print and digital posters. It was a joy to bring this campaign to life and to collaborate with the great teams at Otherway and Fortnum & Mason. The stills campaign amplified these elements with explosive compositions and even more gold to draw you in. Keep an eye out for these delightful (and mischievous) creatures during your holiday shopping this season!

CAMPAIGN CREDITS

2025 CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN • PRODUCED BY STUDIO AKA • AGENCY OTHERWAY • CLIENT FORTNUM & MASON • DIRECTOR MARCUS ARMITAGE • EXECUTIVE PRODUCER NIKKI KEFFORD • PRODUCER ADRIANA PIASEK-WANSKI • PRODUCTION COORDINATOR LARA SALAM • EDITOR NIC GILL • HEAD OF CG LAWRENCE PANKHURST • CG LEAD JEROME FERRA  • PREVIS AND LAYOUT LUCAS VIGROUX, CAMERON GILROY  • MODELLING ADAM AVERY, JEROME FERRA, DANIEL EDWARDS • RIGGING ADAM AVERY, JEROME FERRA • 2D ARTWORK JUSTINE WALDIE • 2D ANIMATION MANSOUR MOAWAD • 3D ANIMATION LUCAS VIGROUX • FX VINCENT HUSSET, LAWRENCE PANKHURST • LIGHTING AND COMPOSITING VINCENT HUSSET, JEROME FERRA, JAMES GAILLARD

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2024 CHRISTMAS CAMPAIGN • PRODUCED BY STUDIO AKA • AGENCY OTHERWAY • CLIENT FORTNUM & MASON • DIRECTOR MARCUS ARMITAGE • EXECUTIVE PRODUCER NIKKI KEFFORD • PRODUCER LARA SALAM • PRODUCTION ASSISTANT • SARAH MCDONALD • EDITOR NIC GILL • HEAD OF CG LAWRENCE PANKHURST • CG LEAD JAMES GAILLARD • PREVIS AND LAYOUT ANNA KUBIK • MODELLING ADAM AVERY, JEROME FERRA • RIGGING ADAM AVERY • SURFACING DANIEL GARNERONE • 3D ANIMATION ANNA KUBIK, GARY CURETON • FX VINCENT HUSSET • LIGHTING AND COMPOSITING WILL EAGAR