It’s that time of year in the agency world — the annual toil over the company holiday card. Yes, the typical warm fuzzy greeting could be sent out in the form of a card tucked inside a basket full of tasty treats, but more often than not, this is seized as an opportunity to showcase the agency and what it can do. This is why the holiday card is attacked with all of the creative zeal that can be mustered, because whatever is created needs to be infused with the agency’s personality to showcase its unique talent, and while at it, make something buzz-worthy enough to possibly go viral. The best part? This opportunity comes around once every year.
In the spirit of the season, we’ve rounded up five unique agency holiday greeting “cards” from past years.
1. Charlie Brown Ad Agency
This hysterical redub of the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas spoofs life in an ad agency, depicting the struggle between Accounts and Creatives as they are tasked with coming up with a killer concept for their annual holiday invitation. This video was actually the viral portion of an agency’s multi-media holiday party invitation and pokes serious fun at the inner workings of life in an agency. Good grief!
(Please note that this video contains some coarse language, so viewer discretion is advised)
2. Bray Leino Advertising Agency Christmas Card
It’s not just a time for light-hearted cheery holiday greetings, but also for important charity holiday messages. These were sent out by Bray Leino Bristol (UK) a few years ago to spread their own important holiday message. The copy underneath the gingerbread man’s leg reads: “This year, instead of Christmas cards we’re donating money to the No More Landmines Trust. Best wishes from all of us at Bray Leino Bristol.”
3. Warmest Wishes from Whybin\TBWA & TEQUILA
In 2005, Whybin\TBWA & TEQUILA (New Zealand) mailed out a plastic bag containing water, a carrot, a pipe and a couple of round black stones. Sending out these “warmest wishes” generated thousands of dollars worth of free publicity for the agency. Recipients loved it and it quickly became a topic of discussion on radio stations and in national newspapers. This piece was also awarded a Bronze Lion for Direct Marketing at Cannes.
4. The Rethink Festive Requestive Holiday Song-a-Thon
Rethink’s Festive Requestive was a live online event for clients, suppliers and friends of the Canadian agency. For one day (12 jolly hours), Rethink accepted song requests on a microsite to be customized by the agency. In the end, over 250 unique songs were created, performed and streamed live to an enthusiastic audience on the Rethink website. Within 24 hours, the YouTube page received over 3,000 views and was ranked within the “Most Popular Videos” in Canada that day.
5. The Story of the Christmas Krampus
This animation by The Firehouse Agency (U.S.) features the bizarre and terrifying Austrian legend of the Christmas Krampus. This is another great accomplishment on a small budget, using handmade puppets and paper cut outs.
We hope you enjoyed Manifest’s holiday “card” this year. We certainly enjoyed making it, and we’re looking forward to creating another one in 2012. On that note, have a very happy holiday season and new year!
Stephanie Ing and Andrea Kligman
