WHAT THEY NEEDED:
The biggest name in holiday gifts was launching a new Christmas brand. And they didn’t want to take credit for it.
Hallmark’s Northpole products were created to help preserve kids’ belief in Santa—they weren’t manufactured by humans but “imported” from the real city of Northpole. Since kids would be viewing ads along with their parents, we had to find a way to explain the product benefits without destroying the illusion.
WHAT I DID:
My solution was to treat advertising as part of the story we were telling… as if the elves themselves had created the campaign.
As creative strategist and copywriter, I learned to speak fluent Elf. Original content (all COPPA- and CARU-compliant) included a cinema spot, “found” videos from the Northpole Network, and Web apps that allowed children to interact with elves (and Santa!). Kids could watch and believe. Moms could discover the products… and see just how fun it is to live like an elf.
