COMMUNITY RELATIONS
THE NICE
LIST KIDS
Children are normally prepped well before they
get to sit on Santa’s knee to tell him how good
they’ve been all year long and what they wish to
get for Christmas. Monroe Crossing in North
Carolina, USA did things a little differently, though,
when it launched its holiday season last year.
From November 25 on, every child who visited
Santa received an official report card to take home.
Their task was to complete 10 good deeds and
write those down on the card, then hand the card
in at the Shoe Show store to receive an invitation
to the center’s Nice List Party.
“This essentially brought the customer to the
mall three times and directly into a specific store
to drive traffic and sales,” explained marketing
director Saran Enten.
“The Nice List Party itself was set up in a
currently vacant space and turned into the North
Pole. Children enjoyed milk and cookies with Santa
and all of his friends, as well as played Christmas
golf, created Christmas sand ornaments, played
inflatable twister, had their faces painted and ran
around with animal balloons. Parents received a
special gift from Santa since they had raised such
well-behaved children to make the Nice List. Santa
gave a $15 Belk gift card to the parents. We [had]
recently completed a 30,000sqft expansion to
Belk with new lines of clothing, shoes [and more],
and aimed to drive traffic into the store, as well
as [generate] additional holiday sales.”
Unlike the annual Breakfast with Santa, which
last year drew 240 children, the Nice List Party
was a new addition to the center’s holiday lineup. It ended up attracting nearly 200 of the more
than 260 kids who had turned in their report card.
Pre-event coverage in the Union County
Weekly, among other tactics (see Media Mix),
helped to draw in the crowd. The newspaper
promoted the party through free advertising in
print, as well as via social media and an e-mail
blast to readers.
MEDIA MIX
Collateral Material: Santa’s Report Cards
from Mall Media Inc.
On-site: 30x40 posters, an 8x4 roadside
banner and a six-foot cutout that described
the event at the Santa set
Print: Charlotte Parent Magazine and Union
County Weekly
Radio spots
Social Media: Facebook (main wall and kid’s
club tab) and Twitter
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