For us as creatives and brand specialists, Black Friday is in many ways our SuperBowl – we grab the popcorn and get ready to unpick the strategies and creativity behind the approaches of our favourite brands-to-watch. If you’re a brand leader reading this in early December, chances are, you’re probably reflecting on another Black Friday: taking stock of how it went, what worked, what didn’t, and whether the route you took was the right one.
For some, the weekend delivered. For others, it raised more questions than it answered. Because the truth is, Black Friday has become increasingly tough for brands to navigate.
Let’s be honest about what Black Friday has become. Walking past any major retailer in late November you see the same message on repeat: “UP TO 70% OFF!” screaming from every window. It looks impressive ‘on paper’ but dig a little deeper and you’ll find the reality is different: a slim handful of heavily discounted lines (often the ones they were struggling to shift anyway) surrounded by far more modest reductions. It’s a tactic that shoppers are becoming increasingly wary of, and one that can leave them feeling underwhelmed, if not utterly misled.
For many brands, particularly those in the premium or ‘slow-fashion’ space, this race to the bottom poses a real dilemma. Slash your prices and you risk undermining not just your brand values but the very brand equity you’ve worked so hard to build. Sit it out entirely and you might surrender the weekend to competitors who are less squeezed by such concerns.
The cool thing about a major moment in the retail calendar like Black Friday is, with all this risk and noise to traverse, there is a niche of brands that get truly creative with their marketing around this time – and we love to watch it play out.
We’ve noticed a growing movement of brands, particularly in the UK, who have found ways to navigate the weekend that feel authentic to who they are. Not necessarily by trying to shout louder or discount deeper, but by doing something genuinely different.
Take ME+EM, the luxury British clothing brand. Since 2023 they’ve simply said no to Black Friday. No discounts, no deals, no apologies. Instead, for the last few years they have been quietly supporting Women for Women International, a charity that supports women and girls affected by war and conflict, by donating £10 for every order placed online and in-store on Black Friday. Their message was clear: we’re about timeless quality, not temporary bargains. For a brand built on premium positioning and considered design, it’s an approach that makes complete sense. And crucially, it’s one their customers respect.
Then there’s Finisterre, the Cornish surfwear brand. Rather than abandon the weekend entirely, they reimagined it as “Blue Friday”, donating £2 from every order over the Black Friday weekend to ocean conservation efforts. Since starting the initiative, they’ve raised over £50,000 for protecting the very environment their brand celebrates. Customers still got to shop, Finisterre still traded through a peak weekend, but there was a sense of purpose beyond the transaction. It’s commerce with conscience, and it works.
Other brands utilise Black Friday as a way of attracting loyal customers, rather than opportunistic bargain hunters. Jaded London knows that when you’re a brand built on distinctive, edgy style with a young, devoted following, Black Friday presents a particular challenge. You want the sales, but you don’t want to train your customers to wait for discounts. And you certainly don’t want to attract a tidal wave of deal-seekers who’ll ghost you after November.
Their solution this year was smart: they made their Black Friday sale available exclusively through the Jaded app. It’s a simple filter. Anyone willing to download an app to access a sale is already more invested than someone hunting for quick discount codes. You’re immediately separating the genuinely interested from the discount chasers, and once you are on a young consumer’s phone, you’re part of their daily scroll.
The result is Black Friday sales without sacrificing long-term customer value. The lesson here is if you’re going to discount, make it work harder for your brand. Use it as the entry point to owned channels where you can build ongoing relationships, not just transactional ones, turning a moment of price-driven interest into something longer lasting.
And finally, we can’t talk about Black Friday without mentioning Puresport – a sports supplements brand that’s amassed a highly engaged community through its Thrift It Back campaign. After identifying that 70% of PR gifts never get used, for Black Friday in 2024 they sent out 500 empty boxes to creators and asked them to fill them with the marketing excess they did not need. What came back was all donated to disadvantaged people. Ahead of Black Friday this year they decided to go even bigger, forming the Thrift It Back Market, with every pound raised from over-gifted PR doubled and donated to Greenhouse Sports, providing young people with coaching and mentorship in sport.
This kind of activation during Black Friday not only breaks the mould, but helps to shine a harsh light on the concerning levels of over-consumption we see during these peak retail moments. It acts as a great example of how brands can harness the collective-thinking of their communities to create genuine social value.
These strategic responses demonstrate a fundamental shift in how consumers and retailers feel about Black Friday. According to the British Independent Retailers Association, more than three-quarters of independent UK retailers boycotted Black Friday this year, up from 69% in 2024, with squeezed margins, discount fatigue and the reality that we now exist in a permanent state of sale, all valid reasons contributing to this change. When deals are available constantly throughout the year, Black Friday loses its special urgency. The event that once felt like a genuine moment of opportunity now risks feeling like just more noise.
So what does this mean for brands as we look ahead to next year?
The answer isn’t the same for everyone. If you’re a volume retailer where price is part of your value proposition, Black Friday might still make perfect sense. But if you’re a brand that’s built on quality, craft, sustainability or premium positioning, blindly following the herd could do more harm than good.
The brands that got it right this year were the curious ones asking questions like:
What does Black Friday mean for our brand, not just the market?
If we participate, how can we do it in a way that reinforces rather than undermines our values?
What would our customers actually respect us for doing?
Is there an opportunity to create something meaningful rather than just another discount?
This is where thoughtful strategy makes all the difference. It’s entirely possible to be commercially smart during peak trading periods without compromising who you are. Sometimes that means reimagining the event entirely, sometimes it means sitting it out with confidence, and sometimes it means finding a middle path that works for your specific context.
Here’s what we know from working with brands through moments like these: the ones that cut through aren’t necessarily the ones shouting the loudest. They’re the ones being most distinctively themselves.
In a flood of “up to 70% off,” doing something genuinely different, whether that’s charitable giving, environmental action, or simply holding your ground on quality and value, can be the thing that makes you memorable. It’s a chance to show customers what you stand for beyond the transaction.
Another Black Friday has passed, but the lessons from it are worth carrying forward. The question for next year shouldn’t be whether to participate. It’s how to show up in a way that feels true to your brand, resonates with your customers, and leaves you stronger when the weekend is over.
If you’re reflecting on how this year went and what you might do differently next time, we’d welcome the conversation. Because navigating these moments well isn’t about following a formula, it’s about understanding what makes your brand valuable in the first place, and having the confidence to act on it.
At Westbrook, we help brands find their voice and cut through in moments that matter, from peak trading periods to their everyday communications, so if you’d like to explore how we might work together, get in touch.