Boots UK is inviting the nation to celebrate all of the special people in their lives this Christmas with the launch of an engaging new multichannel campaign, #SpecialBecause. Designed to inspire people to make all of the special some-ones in their lives feel truly valued this Christmas everyone can get involved by sharing online and in store what makes their loved ones #SpecialBecause.
 
Andy Ferguson, Director of Marketing, Boots UK, explains, “We know that for our customers giving the perfect Christmas gift offers much more than just the present itself, it is a way for them to show how much they care.  This Christmas we want to inspire our customers to celebrate the special people in their lives, not just by giving the perfect gift from Boots, but by sharing the reasons they matter for the whole nation to see.  
Be it the best friend who always takes your late night phone calls, the brother who’s your babysitting backstop, or the colleague who makes the office cheery this year at Boots we have a special gift for everyone, from the smallest of stocking fillers to the most luxurious of beauty treats. That’s what #SpecialBecause  is all  about...making those who make us feel good, often in the smallest or simplest of ways, realise just how special they are.”
 
The Christmas campaign launches this week with a new advert which can be seen on TV for the first time during Downton Abbey on Sunday 9 November 2014.
 
As the lights go off at the end of Christmas Day the advert tells the story of one household for whom the magic is just beginning. It’s just gone midnight and whilst everyone else in the street is heading to bed, one family is preparing a Christmas that a special woman in their life will never forget.
 
From the sleepy husband waiting up on the couch, to Mum and Dad driving across town bundled up from the cold, Uncle Charlie walking his dog through the late night, snowy streets and the daughter racing home from her gap year, the advert shows the lengths to which one family goes to deliver a surprise Christmas celebration for a nurse who as a mum, daughter, sister and wife makes them feel special every day of the year. 
 
The TV spot ends with the strap line ‘Because she’s special’ and will be shown in a variety of formats including a full 60-second and a selection of shorter formats.

The Boots UK Christmas campaign this year is bigger than ever spanning multiple touch points including cinema, out of home, print and digital advertising, direct marketing and PR.  This year also sees a fresh approach to social media channels www.twitter.com/BootsUK and www.facebook/BootsOfficialUK , kicking off with an exclusive unveiling of the advert to the Boots Facebook community in advance of the TV premiere this weekend.     
 

 
The Boots UK Christmas gift guide is now in-store and online at boots.com. It’s full of ideas for thanking the people who make you feel special. The range includes specially designed gift ideas created in partnership with exciting brands including Jack Wills, Florence Anne, Bleach, Ego Professional and WAH London. The full range can be accessed online or via the ‘order and collect*’ service where customers can order online by 6.00pm then collect their gifts from one of over 2,300 stores from midday the next day.*

*Charges and exclusions apply. Northern Ireland, Scottish Highlands & Islands, Channel Islands and Isle of Man are all excluded from the ‘order by 6 collect from 12’ service

About Boots UK
Boots UK is the leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer in the UK, with close to 2,500* Boots UK stores and over 60,000* employees. Boots UK’s purpose is to help customers look and feel better than they ever thought possible. With customers at the heart of the business, Boots UK is committed to providing exceptional customer and patient care, be the first choice for pharmacy and healthcare, offer innovative products 'only at Boots' such as the UK’s leading skincare brand No7, all delivered with the great value our customers love. Created over 160 years ago, the Boots brand is still at the heart of the communities it serves.
Boots UK is a member of Alliance Boots, a leading international, pharmacy-led health and beauty group delivering a range of products and services to customers. Working in close partnership with manufacturers and pharmacists, Alliance Boots is committed to improving health in the local communities it serves and helping its customers and patients to look and feel their best. Its focus is on growing its two core business activities of: pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution, while increasingly developing and internationalising its product brands. Alliance Boots has a presence in more than 27* countries and employs over 120,000* people.  Alliance Boots has pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses in 11* countries and operates more than 4,600* health and beauty retail stores, of which more than 4,450* have a pharmacy, with a fast growing online presence.  In addition, Alliance Boots has around 600* optical practices, of which around 180* operate on a franchise basis, and hearingcare services in around 430* locations.  Alliance Boots pharmaceutical wholesale businesses deliver over 4.5* billion units each year to more than 180,000* pharmacies, doctors, health centres and hospitals from over 370* distribution centres in 20* countries.
In June 2012, Alliance Boots announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Walgreens Co. (Walgreens), the largest drugstore chain in the US.  In August 2014, Alliance Boots and Walgreens communicated that they plan to merge in the first quarter of calendar 2015 to create the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, which will be named Walgreens Boots Alliance.
* Figures are approximations as at 31 March 2014, with the addition of Farmacias Ahumada data at the date of its acquisition on 11 August 2014, and include associates and joint ventures.