Stockland has released the next chapter in its annual Christmas campaign, which celebrates the resilience and resourcefulness of its Retail Town Centres throughout a difficult year and encourages people to enjoy the Christmas Cheer.
This year’s campaign playfully focuses on beating the inherent problem of ‘spreading’ Christmas cheer in a time of face masks and hand sanitiser, where the word ‘spread’ has an altogether different meaning.
Building on the story of Dunder, the Reindeer from Down Under, and the Rein-bird Ibis, the campaign celebrates the abundance of gifts and services at Stockland that can help Santa find hundreds of festive verbs to replace ‘spread’.
Ben Allen, General Manager Customer and Group Marketing at Stockland, said: “This campaign is a chance to reflect on and celebrate the incredible strength, creativity and resilience that Australian retailers and communities have shown throughout 2021.
“Christmas is a magical time where people come together to experience and share joyful moments. We are proud to be a place where people can come to find and enjoy all kinds of Christmas Cheer, whether it is discovering something delightfully unexpected in an augmented reality experience, creating timeless memories, or ticking things off your Christmas list.
“It was terrific to work in partnership with the team at Host/Havas to bring the third instalment of the campaign to life,” Allen said.
“We always have a lot of fun showing how Stockland’s inclusive and relentlessly optimistic spirit can make every Christmas special, no matter what the challenge. And that spirit has never been more relevant than in 2021, which has challenged us in so many ways. The fact that even our most popular Christmas phrases have been impacted was a notion we couldn’t go past,” said Jon Austin, Executive Creative Director at Host/Havas.”
Christmas services at Stockland
In addition to “snap the Christmas Cheer” with Santa photos, “wrap the Christmas Cheer” with local gift-wrapping services, and “create the Christmas Cheer” through various workshops, this year customers will have the chance to win a number of Stockland gift cards through the launch of an augmented reality (AR) Christmas game.
From 1 December, customers will be able to scan a QR code in each centre to activate an AR experience where they will be asked to help Santa to find the hidden presents within a scene. When customers find an item, they automatically go into the draw to win a gift card valued between $500 and $1,000.
Each Stockland Centre will also have a program of unique activities and events for their local community to enjoy, including the annual Super Sale Weekend running from Thursday, 25 November to Monday, 29 November.
Christmas giving
Stockland is also proud to be giving Christmas Cheer through its annual donation campaign. In addition to a $30,000 donation to Foodbank, $20,000 will be given to employees to donate to their favourite charities.
“It has never been more important to share Christmas Cheer, and we hope that this year we can inspire others to share some Cheer with those in need,” commented Allen.
Keeping communities safe
To ensure that the community is kept safe this festive season, retailers have also been supplied with a number of COVID Safety guides to protect the health of staff and customers.
“We are working closely with each Retail Centre to ensure that the health and wellbeing of our staff and communities are protected in line with State Government health guidelines,” Allen said.
The campaign went live on 12 November and will run across owned channels, paid social media, in-store activations, retail, out-of-home media screens and an AR-driven game. It will also feature across YouTube and Spotify, with a dedicated playlist titled “Hear the Christmas Cheer” to help customers to celebrate no matter where they are.
