November Seasonal Segments
As November arrives, the team at Gourmet Ads has refreshed our Seasonal Segments to ensure advertisers reach audiences during the most influential shopping and cooking moments of the year. With Thanksgiving planning is already underway. Retail events fill calendars. To help advertisers make the most of these high intent moments, the team at Gourmet Ads has introduced a refreshed set of Seasonal Segments for the weeks ahead. These segments are powered by contextual signals from recipe discovery, gifting research, appliance comparisons and supermarket shopping guides.
Our contextual engine is finely tuned for food. We map ingredients, cuisines, seasonal motivations and shopping behaviors to moments where audiences are planning what to cook and what to buy.
Seasonal Segments with Family Celebrations
November is full of intent spikes driven by food and shopping plans.
- Thanksgiving: From turkey prep and stuffing ideas to pie tutorials, wine pairings, and hosting checklists, this holiday is prime territory for food, beverage, and entertaining brands.
- Black Friday: The shopping surge begins, with audiences comparing deals on appliances, cookware, and kitchen gadgets. Contextual activity spikes on circulars, reviews, and best-buy roundups.
- Cyber Monday: Online momentum builds with searches for hampers, countertop appliances, and pantry staples—perfect for brands targeting digital-first shoppers.
- Hanukkah: Rich with tradition, this occasion drives engagement around brisket, latkes, sufganiyot, oils, and kosher-certified staples, with recipe pages and how-tos fueling intent.
- Christmas: The season’s pinnacle food event, centered on roasts, baked goods, cheese and chocolate pairings, festive beverages, and edible gifts. Audiences immerse themselves in recipes, supermarket lists, and gift guides.
- Winter Warmers: Comfort dishes rise in prominence—soups, stews, hot drinks, and slow-cooked meals capture audience attention throughout the colder months.
- New Year’s Eve & January Reset: Year-end celebrations spark demand for party menus and beverages, followed by January’s pivot to wellness with healthier snacks, no/low-alcohol choices, sparkling waters, and pantry refreshes.
- Super Bowl: Game day entertaining menus and snack driven spreads
Every one of these occasions gives brands the chance to show up when decisions are being made.
November: The Thanksgiving Build Up
Thanksgiving is not one day. It is a full planning cycle. Shoppers compare turkey sizes. Home cooks learn new techniques. Dessert debates begin. Wine pairing advice becomes essential. Lists are made and remade as the day approaches. This creates powerful environments where advertisers can align with ingredients, beverages and everything needed to host a stress free celebration.
Black Friday follows the feast. Retail intent transitions from food to functional. Kitchen gadgets. Stand mixers and blenders. Coffee machines. Bakeware and air fryers. Audiences spend significant time comparing products and scanning reviews.
Cyber Monday shifts the energy online. Gift shopping collides with grocery top up missions. Carts fill while leftovers are still being enjoyed. Brands able to appear here gain both impulse purchases and planned household staples.
December: Hanukkah and Christmas
As December draws near, intent signals begin shifting toward holidays rooted in family and ritual. Hanukkah sparks interest in recipes that feel familiar yet celebratory. Searches for brisket, latkes, festive sweets and kosher certified ingredients increase. There is strong audience attention on culinary guidance that supports tradition.
Christmas rapidly accelerates the season. Audiences are ready for bold centerpieces and bigger gatherings. Charcuterie boards. Gingerbread baking. Chocolates and confectionery. Party beverages. Supermarket lists become longer and more frequent. For advertisers wanting maximum reach, Christmas remains the most influential food moment of the year.
Running Through the Season: Winter Warmers & New Year
Comfort becomes a theme that continues throughout the colder months. Winter Warmers appeal to audiences seeking simple yet satisfying meals including stews, soups, roasts and slow cooked favorites.
A split mindset forms after Christmas. New Year’s Eve inspires celebratory menus and beverages. Then comes a clear pivot in January toward healthier snacking, pantry refreshes, sparkling water, and moderation focused drinks.
Lastly, Super Bowl preparations turn food into a team sport. Game day spreads require convenience, bold flavors and crowd pleasing favorites. Perfect territory for snacks, beverages and delivery friendly foods.
Media Planning to Capture the Season Ahead
At this time of year, advertisers want certainty. They want to plan ahead while staying flexible enough to respond to growing demand. Our Seasonal Segments are designed to give partners clarity on what is coming next, three to four months out. This ensures campaigns can secure premium placements and align with the strongest consumer intent signals.
Beyond these seasonal roll-outs, Gourmet Ads offers a comprehensive Advertising Calendar mapping high-intent food occasions throughout the year. From Valentine’s Day and Ramadan to Back-to-School and Thanksgiving, this calendar provides a roadmap for staying relevant year-round and ensuring consistent engagement across multiple markets.
How to Activate Seasonal Segments and Year-Round Segments
All Seasonal Segments—as well as evergreen moments from our comprehensive Advertising Calendar—are live and ready for activation. Brands can tap into them in two primary ways:
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Programmatic Deals: Plug directly into your preferred DSP for fast access and immediate scale, ensuring your campaigns align with seasonal intent in real time.
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Managed Campaigns: Work hand-in-hand with our team to design, build, and optimize campaigns tailored to your brand objectives. This includes advanced targeting, creative recommendations, and the ability to reach specific site locations for maximum contextual relevance.
In addition, we build custom contextual segments at the URL level, giving advertisers precision targeting around their own brand, competitors, or niche themes. These custom segments can be deployed quickly—often the same day or by the next—allowing you to react to market opportunities without delay and maintain agility across the entire season.
Take the Next Step
Seasonal moments and year-round occasions alike create powerful signals of consumer intent. Gourmet Ads ensures your brand appears in the right context, precisely when grocery buyers and household cooks are searching for inspiration, planning meals, and making purchase decisions. By aligning with these intent-rich environments, advertisers can maximize visibility and drive meaningful results.
Contact your Gourmet Ads Account Manager to plan which segments or events to prioritize or Download our Media Kit.
