The countdown to Christmas starts in social media: a look at some online campaigns

Those amongst you with small children can't have failed to notice that the season of advent has come upon us.  So we felt it was time for a quick look at a few of the of Christmas social media campaigns out there. 

Black Friday (the most popular online shopping day in the US) has been and gone, and went quite well, by all accounts.   I wonder how John Lewis' innovative virtual store in Brighton will take off and impact online shopping in the UK?

All of the retailer's ‘top 30 things to buy for Christmas’ are included in a window display at a branch of Waitrose, and customers can scan the QR code of the item they want, which will then take them to the John Lewis mobile site to complete their purchase. John Lewis is using the launch to promote its 'click and collect service' which it is currently trialling in 94 Waitrose stores: after ordering online, customers can pick the item up after 2pm the following day from any John Lewis or participating Waitrose store, if the order is place before 7pm the previous day.

And talking of John Lewis, after last year's social media storm-in-a-kennel, they've taken the temperature of their audience and got it very right this year.  Their viral YouTube ad wrenched a small tear from even my jaded eye (shame that the typical YouTube spam-mob have hijacked the comments for a racist slag-fest, but that's YouTube for you).



However, with the same basis ingredients (children + present-giving), Littlewoods managed to get it horribly wrong.  Accusations of blatant commercialisation of Christmas (not overly surprising for a retailer, but look how well John Lewis hid their true motives), pressure to overspend at a time of recession (who amongst us feels inclined to buy a laptop for Grandpa this year?) and worse - oh far worse - letting it slip that (look away now kids) there's no such thing as Santa have resulted in complaints to the ASA and a Facebook online petition no less. 

What else in on our Christmas list this year?   Well,  if you're too old to be disillusioned by a Littlewoods ad, but want to make sure you actually get what you want, Nordstrom's Santa hint app approaches the buying season by using technology and social networking to keep the spirit of Santa alive (hah!). The Seattle-based retailer’s “Nordstrom Santa” project is a Facebook app that will post a gift hint on the user’s Facebook wall, linking to a gift the person hopes to get.


Or is you're trying to undo the damage wraught by a certain retailer, then try Conde Nast's "Santa's Hideout" wishlist site, where parents and children can make wishlists, and parents can use a tool to respond as "Santa" via email.

The most online advent fun can be had at Norad Santa: today the Norad Tracks Santa website goes live - and indeed is all over, with @santa on Twitter, a Facebook page, and a NORAD Tracks Santa mobile app too, where you can enjoy playing the splendidly-named 'Elf Toss' right through the month.

Photo app Shoebox has teamed up with Blurb to ‘print the most amazing Santa photo book ever made’. It needs your help to find and submit the weirdest, funniest or most awkward Santa photos you can find. To enter, you can submit the photo via Twitter or Facebook before 1 December. (Oh.  Oops, sorry).

Finally, in juxtaposition with the Littlewoods having jaded small children bypass Santa by asking Mum directly for what they want, Target offers the "Christmas Champ," a slightly insane super shopper (performed in the ads by a comdedienne named Maria Banford) who tweeted "advice" for making it through Black Friday. Congrats to one of our clients, agency Weiden + Kennedy for a fab job - and we're asking Santa if we can have a go at doing the tweets next year, if we're very very good?