Stockland has turned the tables on conventional Christmas marketing with a new social media campaign that asks and empowers customers to define what Christmas means to them and their circle of family, friends and community, via Lavender.
‘Unwrap Christmas’ is a user-generated Christmas campaign, which aims to unearth uniquely Australian Christmas stories from Townsville to Traralgon and Balgowlah to Baldivis.
Stockland has kicked off its new digital campaign with an online video showcasing how everyone does Christmas a little differently. For some it’s an intimate family reunion, for others it’s all about food. Some homes will squeal at 5am with the delights of excited children, while for others, Christmas signifies the start of holidays and the sights and sounds of a long, hot summer.
The video also asks Australians to share what they believe Christmas is all about via the hashtag, #unwrapchristmas.
The campaign will be supported by social, print, radio and in-centre display advertising and will evolve over the coming weeks with a series of multi-channel touch points and a competition to encourage and share user-generated content. These social media conversations, videos, images and stories will be aggregated on both a local community scale and nationally at Stockland’s website.
Ben Allen, general manager marketing at Stockland, said, “Unwrap Christmas is about connecting authentically with our customers and showcasing all aspects of Christmas from all Australians and every corner of our great country.
“Stockland shopping centres are located in major cities and regions as far north as Cairns and as far west as Baldivis, but most importantly they are the heart of their local communities. They are not just the place people come to buy their gifts or the key ingredients for their Christmas feast, but also where they find inspiration, meet with friends and take in all the festive fun and entertainment over the summer.
“We want to remind people about the importance of Christmas and to reflect on and reconnect with what they love about this time of year.”
Supporting the campaign is Miguel Maestre, celebrity TV chef, cookbook author and Stockland Ambassador, who plays a key role in the campaign with four exclusive Christmas recipes as well as a host of food inspiration for customers.
All 40 Stockland shopping centres across Australia will share the Christmas spirit, coming to life across November and December with a hive of activity including the Super Sale Weekend on Saturday 26th November, local community events such as Paws and Claws and, of course, visits from Santa.
And for the first time, Stockland gift wrapping stations will use an official wrapping paper designed by one local customer, Fizah Malik from Sydney. Her unique design ‘fireworks in the night sky’ won top honours in Stockland’s recent ‘Art of Wrap’ competition and will now wrap thousands of gifts this Christmas.
Ben Allen continued, “With over 420,000 customers visiting a Stockland shopping centre every day, Christmas is a fantastic opportunity to connect with our customers providing inspiration during this festive season. We want to make our customers’ Christmas shopping experience as enjoyable, easy and fun as possible.”
