Objectives

The Myer Christmas windows are a key drawcard during the festive period and a visit to Myer’s Santaland to see Santa has become a tradition for many families. However, Myer felt their current Christmas activation had become dated - losing the quality experience the retailer wishes to deliver to customers. We were tasked to continue Myer’s Christmas legacy through reimagining their entire annual Santaland experience, bring back the magic and reinvent the traditional department store Santa photos. The idea had to achieve both a traditional and meaningful experience for families with younger children, with interactive activities relevant and to be enjoyed by all ages – giving customers a compelling reason to come to store during the Christmas Season.
 

How were the objectives met?

Our brief was to create a meaningful, personal, authentic experience to ensure a trip to Myer becomes a Christmas tradition for generations to come; an activation to extend across 3-5 years with new, repeat visit surprises to be enjoyed year-on-year. Guided by the insight that the choice of Christmas activity is driven by the age of the children and effort required, our primary audience shifts from the Mother to the Child as they get older. Christmas traditions are all about remembering the past, while creating memories for the future. Our opportunity was to create a place where families could relax during a hectic time of the year, and for parents relive the magic of their childhood Christmases to pass on new memories to their children. It was therefore important that the activation was grounded in traditional storytelling, centered around a visit to Santa, but with interactive activities at its periphery to ensure relevancy to children of all ages. Families were given more than just another Santa photo, whereby children got to experience a virtual journey to meet and visit Santa in his residence. And coupled with the further workshop activities, a trip to Myer was truly the ultimate Christmas adventure. With Santaland to feature at Myer’s five flagship stores, flexibility and scalability of the experience design was essential to its success.