It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Though it’ll look a bit different this year. So, in a move designed to strengthen the brand-customer emotional connection, some brands are going another mile to bring you that much-needed magic back.
Selfridges
Selfridges is going all out this Xmas for customers – from open outdoor seasonal food markets behind Oxford Street (that’s in London) to booking a seat in their plush cinema Christmas Movie-thon to watch the latest new releases.
It’s great. But far from being all. Guest DJs, solo singers, and so many more instore events and celebrations are happening as well as a full calendar of festive virtual experiences to entertain customers at home. Here’s the full list of the unmissable experiences to enjoy from the comfort of home and the store.
“We are thrilled to be able to open our doors again just in time for the Christmas rush. We launched our Christmas season online almost a month ago and have been delighted with the way our customers have embraced gift hunting online with us,” said Jane Sharrocks, General Manager of Selfridges Exchange Square.
“However, at Christmas, there is nothing quite like the festive fun and excitement of a visit to Selfridges, and we have pulled out all the stops to ensure everyone who comes through our doors will find what they are looking for and more, whilst being thoroughly entertained in the process.”
Real-life magic
#SelfridgesChristmas invites customers to:
Sit at the Fendi Cafe
Kylie Jenner’s clean, vegan, cruelty-free skin products
First-ever Christmas Market at Edwards Mews, London:
Online magic
Online, the brand is trying to get customers into that festive spirit by offering:
- Virtual pub quizzes with Sink the Pink
- Craft workshops with Santa himself
- Once upon a Christmas: beauty festival
- The renowned Elfridges gift advice service
- One-to-one beauty and wellness advice
- And more
Sephora
The French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products is going the deal way.
In fact, with a-thon of their own, the Sephorathon just kicked off, with amazing beauty deals, incentives, and perks – that we at PostFunnel like to call – proper CRM promotional practices.
By signing up for Sephora’s Beauty Insider program, customers will gain access to 30 days of major savings on new beauty products.
The brand has also created a promotional calendar this month, divided by a weekly offering that includes:
- The dollar savings offer
- Beauty insider members club
- BIGPOINTS promo codes
- Super Saturday eGift cards
- Sale on sale – with extra 20% off
- Fenty Beauty and Gucci offerings
- And more
Anyone can sign up for the insider program to start benefitting from the deals during Christmas month. But do note, just like any other customer loyalty program – different levels/tiers get different deals and rewards.
- All these deals come after Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales that have already given Sephora customers tons of limited-time action to take advantage of.
Crayola
The American art supplies retailer has also been creating fun, handmade experiences to give both its parent and kiddo customers a colorful Christmas:
- FREE virtual crafting events
- 60% off “Color Friday” deals
- Crayola-inspired Gingerbread houses and cookie decorating kits
- Virtual card making classes
- Educational webinars for children
- And more
The retailer is also giving customers a chance to win a Colorful Holiday Bundle, which includes a set of 4 picture books and two leering kits filled with colorful art tools and activities. The giveaway allows the whole family to spend precious time together during the holidays.
To give the gift of creativity, the retailer has also launched Handmade Holidays at Crayola Experience across Texas, where families can enjoy free mini photo sessions, holiday gift ideas, and 22 more creative activities.
The description on the Handmade Holidays calendar reads:
“Fill this season with color and create gifts from the heart during Crayola Experience’s Handmade Holidays! Craft a Christmas cracker (an exciting holiday table topper), make a 3D Gingerbread ornament, and mold a winter penguin!”
Ben & Jerry’s
That outspoken ice-cream maker never disappoints customers when it comes to treating them good/responding to their needs.
During BLM protests this past summer, the super-premium homemade ice cream brand wasn’t shy to show its political stance.
Now, just in time for Christmas, they’ve launched a new flavor in collaboration with Netflix – perfect for binge-watching comedy specials. It’s called Punch Line, a mix of almond ice cream and brown butter bourbon:
Though not directly for Christmas, the collab makes perfect sense for these times when customers don’t have too many options to go out together, especially to the movies, as most theatres are still temporarily closed.
Ben & Jerry’s is offering holiday dessert inspo with 3 winter ice cream recipes “that will put you in the holiday spirit.” Also, for the festive season, delicious cupcakes with a sweet surprise inside are available. *Hint* they’re stuffed with holiday cheer.
If that didn’t get your mouth-watering just yet, Ben & Jerry’s is also launching new seasonal gingerbread cookie dough chunks – making it easier for customers to go straight for the good stuff.
“We’ve freed the chunks! We know how it goes: sometimes, when you’re digging into a pint of ice cream, you’re really just chasing those chunks with reckless abandon. Go straight for the good stuff with a bag of totally snackable Cookie Dough Chunks!” they write on their website.
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There are a few things we love about these four special Xmas offer strategies. Each of these brands is offering a range of promotions and is doubling down on actual activities, all while ensuring the entire strategy both answers relevant customer needs and is staying true to (and echoing) the brand’s values.
Being there for customers when they need the right promotion, activity, or just a way to forget about their everyday challenges and having a positive, emotional experience with a brand is probably the best, most impactful kind of relationship marketing right now.
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