merry xmas

Tis the time for your seasonal marketing

Whilst I was transiting though Dubai I stopped at Hamley’s in Dubai mall, and was really impressed by their Christmas activity line-up. The mall had arranged a series of different events including skating performances, Hamley’s had arranged visits from Santa & a Christmas wish list giveaway.

On the surface of things it doesn’t sound particularly incredible. Until you start comparing it to what other malls are doing, and the demographic the malls are trying to appeal to (Hopefully “Women, likely with children, and a propensity to shop”… Or are they just targeting “everyone-that-wants-to-shop”?).

seasonal marketing campaigns

The other malls I visited (albeit in India & Singapore) had no (advertised) family activities, giveaways or events. Their seasonal marketing campaigns mostly featured shopping & spending related promotions. Whilst discounts are always popular, I’m reasonably sure that shopping promotions alone won’t do the trick. Given a choice, wouldn’t you opt to go to the venue that had more to offer? Or at least something to keep your kids busy & entertained?

How can you leverage this in your digital marketing programme? The principal is the same, motivate your clients to interact with your brand, driving activity and involvement to promote your name. As long as your campaign benefits your customer in some way, and fosters online engagement with your brand, you’re going in the right direction. A couple of great Xmas promotion ideas that I’ve seen are:

  1. BabyCenter XMas Giveaways – in exchange for comments (social proof)
  2. WestJet XMas Surprises – just crazy and incredible, with lots & lots of media coverage