SOLITARY SENIORS TO SANTA

TitleSOLITARY SENIORS TO SANTA
BrandTAKASHIMAYA DEPARTMENT STORE
Product / ServiceTAKASHIMAYA BRAND
CategoryC07. Corporate Image & Communication
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON TAIWAN Taipei, CHINESE TAIPEI
Entrant Company J. WALTER THOMPSON TAIWAN Taipei, CHINESE TAIPEI
Advertising Agency J. WALTER THOMPSON TAIWAN Taipei, CHINESE TAIPEI
Media Agency MEDIA PALETTE (TAIWAN) Taipei, CHINESE TAIPEI
Production Company SPRING FILMS Taipei, CHINESE TAIPEI

Credits

Name Company Position
Norman Tan JWT NORTH ASIA CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER
I/Fei Chang JWT Taiwan Chief Creative Officer
Min-Lung, Wu JWT Taiwan Group Creative Director/Copywriter
Dory Liu JWT Taiwan Art Director
SELWYN LOW JWT Copywriter
Maggie Chang JWT Taiwan Account Director
ELLIE CHEN JWT Taiwan Account Executive
Carol Chen JWT Taiwan Producer
Mulder Shen Spring Films Film Director

Brief Explanation

Takashimaya Department Store’s brand spirit is “MORE TOUCH, MORE LOVE.” We hope the department store could become an ideal location for people to contact, interact, and most importantly, to feel love and warmness.

The Brief

Taiwan’s aging population rate is the fastest in the world, giving rise to the large number of solitary seniors who live alone and have nobody to speak to. The only opportunity to talk is when they shop for food and hold a short conversation like “What’s the price?”. They stay away from people because they feel they are no longer useful to society. Strategy:Takashimaya’s annual Christmas celebration is our biggest event that involves the efforts of many people. So we decided to invite the solitary seniors to play a part too.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

“I don’t have kids, but today, more than 100 kids hugged me tightly!” ― Qiulong Guo “I don’t know what to say, but all I know is I will never ever forget today.” ― Ciwen Tsao The solitary senior Santas were a hit with our patrons. We helped them remove the barrier that once made them fear interaction and gave them a sense of purpose. While they may have forgotten the last time they hugged or smiled at someone, this experience has made them remember the happiness they got from making someone else’s day. ★ In Taiwan, well-known artists, directors, bloggers and songwriter actively responded to campaign on social media. ★ It is expected that 4 other department stores will participate in this campaign in 2015. ★ After campaign, Takashimaya won 2nd place for department stores brand among 20 chain department stores ―「Global Views Monthly Magazine」 Poll

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

OUR IDEA:SOLITARY SENIORS TO SANTA Since malls usually hire youths to dress as Santa as part of their vacation jobs, we thought it would be more meaningful to hire solitary seniors instead. After all, Santa has always been a jolly old man. There’s no better way to help these solitary seniors rediscover the love and happiness of interaction than to let them be the jolly old men to spread the joy of Christmas. Our task is to make solitary seniors believe there’s still a role for them in society. And help them overcome their fear of interacting with people.