Embody the magic of the holiday season

For communicators, this is an unmissable event that requires more and more virtuosity each time. Because their audiences, well versed in the exercise, are ready to be carried away by magic and surprise. But solicited from all sides, are only rarely surprised.

The source of the problem ? Exercise is often treated like a horse chestnut and no one escapes it. It is not enough to jump on the holiday train and sprinkle garlands of communication with garlands and fake snow. What touches people is this “extra soul”, the way that any brand has to bring this particular atmosphere, both formal and uninhibited, to life and to infuse its identity. What leaves memorable memories is to reclaim the parties and create your own story.

Getting out of your comfort zone while staying true to yourself

When we talk about a year-end communication operation, it is often those intended for the general public that come to mind; certainly because they affect more people. And possibly because we imagine that professional relations and corporate communication are not conducive to such a festive and emotional period.

And yet it is possible, perhaps even easier, to convey the generosity of the holiday spirit in this context. Behind every working relationship, they are people. And unlike the general public, which must be mobilized with a multitude of levers, the employees of a company have a lot in common. A story, a vision, anecdotes, failures, successes, objectives. This experience binds them together and becomes the fertile ground for a collective imagination.

Last year, Avem executives contacted us for a greeting card. Together, we revisited it, reinterpreted it. In a short and dynamic video, Avem staff showcases their expertise and daily life in a fun way. These moments are interspersed with visual elements addressing the themes of innovation and the evolution of the brand by 2020. By replacing the simple impersonal and somewhat mandatory toast with this video, the leaders of Avem n ‘ not only wished their employees a happy new year, they recognized and valued the work accomplished and linked them by a common vision of the future, they were able to unite their team.

B2C side, there are also many ways to approach the question. If it is more complicated to find common ground, especially when you have a large and diverse audience, you can go back to the origins of the period and choose to please. This is what we did with Kerastase last Christmas. To reclaim the Christmas spirit and get around the impersonal aspect of a form, we created a tree of luminous balls in WebGL. By selecting and opening the ball of their choice, they were surprised to discover the brand’s products and goodies to personalize according to their hair type. Besides the gifts, we gave them the feeling of being special and listened to.

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For others the challenge is to position themselves correctly in their daily lives. In the case of Valrhona for whom we carried out a Christmas operation last year, the chocolate and calendar duo from the front seemed to be the ideal starting point, but how to make an appointment? By putting a reward into play every day, we convinced the public to come back for 25 days and to make them discover the history and the values ​​of the brand thanks to a quest in a very identity universe.

Wonderful and paradoxical, the holiday spirit manages to make demand and relaxation coexist. A unique moment where we can do without promises, forget about our editorial charter to reveal ourselves more intimately, giving free rein to our imagination. Thank, congratulate, motivate, celebrate success… The possibilities are endless. It is up to each brand to choose what it wants to convey to its audience at this very special moment. The key is to build on its specifics, which binds it to its audience to embody the spirit of the holidays in its own way.

The film, one of the supports popular during this period, is undoubtedly the most effective way to amaze its audience and transport them to an entirely new universe rich in details, in which everything is mastered to perfection. For some brands, the end-of-year film has even become an institution.

For sharing nothing beats the greeting card. And there is nothing to prevent it from being revisited there as well. Some may remember the one we sent last year: a box with a poem and a box of chocolate. Seemingly simple, it still contained a surprise: with a phone, it was possible to activate a beating heart in augmented reality. An addition that surprises and communicates our desire to explore and innovate, with you and for you.

Kérastaseand Valrhona are very good examples of generous devices: if they spent a little time, users could earn rewards every day in December. And in the case of Kérastase, by sharing the operation on social networks, the clients offered their friends the opportunity to enter the contest.

Never neglect the timing

As tempting as it is to extend its summer, capture and transcribe the state of mind of this particular period with an operation that resembles us and that will emerge, requires reflection, investment and … time! So as tempting as it is to extend its summer, we recommend switching to winter time now.