The holiday season is an active time for interactive marketing and advertising. Here is a popular viral micro site which made its way around the mom community via email. Mothers are creating customized messages from Santa to their children that are very accurate to what the child is asking and preparing for Christmas. It’s a modern day spin on the classic idea of a message from Santa Claus, this one is web video. Here is an example of a completed Santa video message.
The parent fills out a short web form with various pieces of personal information which is sent to Santa. This is an extremely important part of this experience, the personal elements of this video are delivered through Santa’s voice over and onscreen imagery: such as the child’s age, name, desired gift, Canadian province where they live (this was created by the Canadian MSN. The production of this is very high quality; the Santa actor pre recorded the various audio elements/combinations such as the children names and gift options so when the audio is delivered in the web video it sounds perfect and appears to be custom recorded just for the child. Since Santa has a long beard it’s a perfect solution for the lip-sync issue between the static video and variable audio.
A digital picture can be uploaded of the child along with their name which appears inside Santa’s list of children who have been nice this Christmas. This one part really sells the concept that this is a REAL message from the all knowing and all seeing Santa Claus.
The video also touches on the classic Santa themes such as receiving your children’s letter at the North Pole and even discusses ideas like what does Santa do during the summertime. It’s a very convincing end product that really leaves a lasting impression. The combination of this Participatory and Observation based experience is the right tool to connect with eager 6 year olds who are yearning for news from the North Pole. It’s also a great way for parents to continue to leverage the power Santa to support teaching children to be being nice to their little brother because Santa is watching.
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3 Responses to "MSN’s Portable North Pole message from Santa Claus"
Some people have asked whether this experience is available again this year, and it is. Just go here: http://santa.sympatico.ca/
Thanks for profiling Portable North Pole last December. We’re excited to be back again this year, in partnership with Sympatico and benefitting Unicef Canada. You’ll see a few upgrades that I think users will enjoy: adapted scenarios tailored specifically to kids under two, a map that shows the path Santa and his reindeer take as they travel from the North Pole to the child’s home, and a fun version for adults who have been naughty or nice. Our best for the holiday season to the entire Schematic team.
Alex.
CEO, UgroupMedia, creators of PNP
we have just used this to produce a message from santa to our 5yr old daughter and the look on her face was priceless.this is a really brilliant idea that the kids will love.we uploaded a photo from our holidays and i think she is convinced that he really does watch them all year round so maybe they will be on their best behaviour all the time now.the impact of the video is far better than any card the child could recieve.this is a quality product and i would definitely give it 10/10.
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[...] Recently Lucas has become fond of texting on my iPhone. He does not have anyone to message except his character friends on TV shows. There is one character called Special Agent OSO who has a Text to Call digital experience where you can text into a short code and instantly receive back a personalized telephone call pertaining to the most recent episode. It’s effective because they incorporate his first name and other location and activity specifics that really sell it. Since the character has a lot of spy communication devises on the show (Oso interacts with something called a Palm Pilot) this strategy of SMS and telephone interactivity is a perfect fit. This experience is very similar to the Santa Call. [...]