OLD NAVY’S SANTA BOOTCAMP
HOLIDAY DIVERSITY CAMPAIGN
Less than 3% of all professional Santas in the U.S. are People of Color, yet according to the latest U.S. census data, almost half of the children under age 15 are Children of Color.
Client
Old Navy
Markets
Global
Line Of Business
Brand Engagement
Snapshot
Virtual School, In-Store Photo Moments
So Old Navy tasked Industria Creative with building a proverbial sled big enough for us all with the goal of recruiting and training more diverse Santas who could bring that special holiday magic to their local communities.
We launched Santa BOOTcamp – a virtual Santa School for ALL, which covered Santa lessons like the importance of being an ambassador, and how to refer to children in gender neutral terms and withhold assumptions about familial structures.
Attendees had access to fun holiday downloads, plus tutorials on key phrases in multiple languages, including American Sign Language. All attendees of the live program received a personalized “Certificate of Santa-fication.”
We also worked with actress Keke Palmer, star of Old Navy holiday commercials, to make a stop at The Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles for story-time and treats. And photo activations at Old Navy stores in NYC, San Francisco, Toronto, and Chicago followed. Families had photos taken with Santa and made a stop at the reading corner showcasing diverse holiday children’s books.
The program garnered an explosion of media attention which led to an incredible 2.3 billion media impressions. The most important takeaway, however, was that hundreds of children saw Santa in the photo on the mantle that looked a little more like them.
