Christmas giving’s dirty little secret is that $699 million worth of gifts is wasted in Australia each year, according to the 2020 Salvos Stores Christmas Report. It also found that, in the middle of a rather nasty period for a lot of families, two-thirds of Australians are reassessing their approach to Christmas this year due to financial concerns.

So Salvos Stores’ Christmas campaign imagines that Santa shuts down his toy factory to buy pre-loved gifts from Salvos Stores and with spare time on their hands, Santa’s elves find new purpose doing the work of The Salvation Army in the community. It’s a lovely fantasy by The General Store and animation production partner, Unlisted. Let’s hope it changes how some Australians manage Christmas this year.

The campaign aims to create awareness of the work of Salvos Stores and asks people to consider giving a second-hand gift purchased from one of their 350 store locations or online. These will ultimately keep giving to those in need by funding the initiatives of The Salvation Army.

“This year presented a unique opportunity to remind Australians of the true meaning of Christmas: an opportunity to give not only gifts, but to give hope for the environment and for those in need,” stated Salvos Stores chief executive officer, Matt Davis.

Chris Scott, creative director at The General Store, added, “The Change for Tomorrow platform comes along at a timely moment when so many people are reassessing what’s important. In our short film, Salvos Santa, we’ve employed a timeless, cell-drawn animation style to create a magical world for our audience, young and old, to step into. We hope they’ll leave feeling inspired to act meaningfully and sustainably this Christmas.”

The Christmas campaign also launches a new brand identity for Salvos Stores nationally and will be followed up by the launch of a new retail store concept early next year.

Maddie Livesey, partner at The General Store, commented, “This is the type of project we love at The General Store: working through a new brand and customer experience strategy and then handing that over to our multi-disciplinary team to deliver a holistic creative platform across brand ID, advertising, web design and a complete re-imagining of the physical retail experience.”

The Salvos Santa Christmas campaign will launch across CUTV, cinema, digital, social and in-store and will be supported by online video sessions with Salvos Santa himself for customers who visit in-store or online.

Davis noted, “We are an organisation that has been built on giving back and as we near the end of 2020 we wanted to bring this message to kids across the country. Our Salvos Santa sessions will be free and will teach Aussie kids some really valuable lessons about having a charitable spirit.”

The Salvos Santa Christmas promotion will run from November 12 to December 3 with Santa sessions taking place on Saturday December 5, 2020.

Credits:

Agency: The General Store (Strategy & Creative)
Creative Director: Chris Scott
Art Director: Julia Elton-Bott,
Designer: Luke Mathers
Producer: Darren Bailey
Partner + Chief Executive Officer: Matt Newell
Partner: Madeleine Livesey
Group Account Director: Tanya Green
Digital Director: Renaud Frisé
Project Director: Andrew Kohn

Production Company: Unlisted
Directors: Leyla Kaddoura & Vic Chhun
Executive Producer: Graham Pryor
Head of Production: Chelsea Nieper
Producer: Kade Robertson
Animators: Francisco Magalhaes, Jules Bourges, Faouzi Hammadi & Sovan Var (clean up)
Colouring Backgrounds: Maurine Lecerf
Compositing: Mathieu Betard

Sound Design & Mix: Sounds Reservoir
Composer: Spencer Radcliffe

PR: We Scout  
Directors: Lori Susko & Annabelle Jones
Account Director: Paige Milton

Media: Bench Media & Nunn Media
Web Design: Annix

Client: Salvos Stores
Chief Executive Officer: Matt Davis
General Manager, Customer & Strategy: Edwina Morgan
Customer Experience Manager: Aife O’Loughlin
Customer Experience Coordinator: Shane Muir
Digital Communications Officer: Sophie Crombie