Charles Dickens wrote a guide to modern marketing strategy back in 1843.
It wasn’t called that of course – no one would have bought it. But if you lean back and squint a bit, you can start to see how the three spectral visitors from A Christmas Carol represent something very sensible about how businesses ought to understand their customers.

Let’s take the Ghost of Christmas Past. It’s no secret that a brand’s past or origin story often holds the key to its future – the ethos of its founders, the defining moments of its trajectory, the reason people bought into it in the first place. But there’s another parallel here with A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is forced to revisit his own past – his transformation from enthusiastic young clerk under the generous Fezziwig into a money-hoarding misery. Many companies have similar inflection points where they stop being the plucky startup and evolve into something much more mainstream. These transitions should demand our attention, but we aren’t always alert to the shift – it’s too tempting to keep thinking of our beloved brand as the spirited challenger even when it’s on the shelves in Tesco surrounded by brand new competitors and shoppers have long ceased to think of it as new or exciting.
The Ghost of Christmas Past teaches us that reflecting on where your business really is right now on its journey is always time well spent.

The Ghost of Christmas Present represents what customers are thinking about you right now, which is often spectacularly different from what you imagine they’re thinking. Scrooge discovers he’s loathed – properly loathed – which comes as a considerable shock. For their part, modern businesses experience disconcerting revelations when they check their social media mentions and discover that ‘brand engagement’ means people are engaged in discussing all the things that irritate them about the brand. Or worse – and more commonly – that no one’s thinking about them at all…

Inside the boardroom, brands are the heroes of their own stories – innovative, customer-focused, making a difference. The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals the uncomfortable truth – you’re a minor character in everyone else’s story, if you appear at all. The Ghost shows Scrooge that while he’s been obsessing over his ledgers, entire human dramas have been unfolding. People are falling in love, raising children, struggling with illness, finding joy in simple pleasures. Scrooge is background noise. In reality, even customers who use your product daily probably think about your brand fleetingly in moments of use. You’re competing not just with other brands but with everything else in human experience.
The Ghost of Christmas Present teaches us the importance of steeling ourselves to step outside our own brand bubble with humility.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge his unmourned grave, which is rather bleak but makes a point. One of the most unnerving things about this ghost is its silence – it merely points and shows. The principle of ‘Show, don’t tell’ is one of the most powerful principles in marketing. Rather than telling people about a brand’s benefits, the most powerful messages demonstrate the value.

In an era of constant brand chatter, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’s wordless presence reminds us that sometimes restraint, mystery, and allowing people to draw their own conclusions creates deeper engagement than relentless messaging.

If the three Ghosts of Christmas visited your brand, what would they show you?

Sarah