With Canada Post recently announcing it will no longer deliver letters door to door, perhaps sending Christmas greeting cards by post will become a thing of the past.
Many already opt for a digital Season’s Greetings card sent by e-mail or via social media. In many ways the more modern method can be a lot more fun and meaningful – after all, rather than just a nice picture and some writing, the greeting can take on an interactive form, have some animation, or be a well-polished video. We noticed some companies we cover were keen on sending out clever Christmas videos this past week, so we decided to collect them for you here.
Did your company create a festive video you want to share, or do you know of one we missed here? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page.
Toronto-based advocate marketing software firm Influitive played on The Night Before Christmas classic poem and also the classic tale of Scrooge and his visit with three ghosts on Christmas Eve. The cut-out photo animation style is a lot of fun and you have to give them extra credit for incorporating their marketing message as the moral of the story. After all, this company is all about marketing, right?
Another Toronto-based marketing firm, VidYard, was pretty much obligated to put out a Christmas video as a video marketing platform. They rewrote I’m Getting Nuttin’ for Christmas and combined some fun in-office antics and a plot about a Grinch-like CFO. Big finish with jazz hands at the end.
WestJet also played on The Night Before Christmas poem but combined that with an elaborate stunt. Passengers flying from Calgary to Toronto thought they were participating in some fun airport Christmas activities when Santa took their gift wish list in the waiting lounge before departure. But they were surprised to see the items they asked for waiting for them on the baggage pickup conveyer belt when they got to Toronto. WestJet’s good will effort doesn’t stop there – it promised to donate flights to a family in need through its community investment program if the video reached 200,000 views and the video is now at more than 31.2 million.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9RxN4vpBNE
Vancouver-based social media management software HootSuite has a one-minute video driven by music that reminds us to be social over the holidays, but not in the way you might think.
The Canadian Consulate General in New York shared this video with us. Here’s how one of the figure skaters in the video, Marni Halasa, describes it in a YouTube comment:
“Canadian Consulate Holiday Video! Principle skaters Taryn Jurgensen & Marni Halasa, skating to The River by Joni Mitchell at the newly opened McCarren Park Ice Rink. It was a beautiful cold morning! Thanks to all the skaters who participated and another thank you to Consul General John Prato, Ice Theatre of New York’s Moira North, Jeff Brieithaupt, Vikas Sharma, Dawn Kiernan & hubby Peter Cecere! Another thanks to my students for participating: Sophie, Maddalena & Miranda! Check out the video!”
Holiday Video Tips from Vimeo Video School on Vimeo.
If all this is inspiring you to record your own holiday video – perhaps even a personal one, here’s some tips from Vimeo to consider.