Dive Brief:

• H&M has a released a teaser for an upcoming holiday-themed short starring the musician and actress Nicki Minaj, along with Jesse Williams and John Turturro, per a press release. Directed by Johan Renck, the film follows a parallel fantasy world where a heroic little girl has to track down the evil brother of Santa Claus to save the season from his selfishness.
• Minaj plays the mother of the little girl and a fairy named the Wisest Thingy, Williams plays the father and the Fastest Fairy and Turturro portrays both Santa and his evil brother.
• Styles featured in the film will be available to purchase in H&M stores and on its website throughout the holiday campaign period, which began this week. The full version of the film goes live on hm.com on Nov. 28.

Dive Insight:

To help distinguish itself in a competitive fast fashion retail category, H&M is more often leaning into cinematic content marketing that features bonafide Hollywood talent both behind and in front of the camera. Late last month, the brand released a lavish four-minute short directed by Baz Luhrmann, of "Moulin Rouge!" and "Romeo + Juliet" fame, to promote its collaboration with the high fashion house Erdem.

H&M appears to be taking a similar tack for its holiday marketing, turning the star wattage up another level through the on-screen presence of Minaj, Williams and Turturro. The holidays are an essential sales period for retailers, demanding attention-grabbing campaigns that fit into the sentiment of the season. Those in the industry with big brick-and-mortar businesses have been battered in recent years but the rise in prominence of e-commerce sites, putting extra pressure on marketers to devise strategies that drive awareness and sales.  

H&M has struggled to show strong financial results in recent quarters with its third-quarter net profit falling 20% in September, according to CNN. The brand has a lot of popularity on social media, however, with a recent analysis by ShareIQ finding it, along with rivals Forever 21 and Topman, leads its pack in consumer engagement by a wide margin. It's likely hoping that performance can extend to a buzzy, star-studded marketing push for the holidays.