Visit Finland’s Say it with Santa campaign charms the world
For this Christmas, Visit Finland enlisted Santa Claus as a messenger to spread the warm Christmas atmosphere around the world. In the Say it with Santa campaign, people asked Santa to send greetings to their loved ones. More than 13,000 applications were written to Santa, and the site was visited from 175 countries.
Visit Finland’s international Say it With Santa marketing campaign this year sees Santa Claus taking the lead and spreading the message of Christmas.
“We wanted to help people stay in touch with their loved ones and share the magic of Christmas remotely as well. With Santa’s help, we told the world about Finland’s strengths as a travel destination. Even if travel isn’t possible at the moment, we want to stay in people’s minds and hearts”, says Heli Jimenez, senior director of international marketing at Business Finland.
Finland is also known around the world as Christmas country. Tourists are impressed by many facets of Finland, including the clean air and nature, the silence, the winter, the Northern Lights and top-quality experiences.
Personal messages, a live broadcast and interviews around the world
In the Say it with Santa campaign, Santa delivers people’s personal Christmas greetings. The greetings could be sent for selection in November by writing to Santa on the campaign website.
Santa Claus received about 13,000 application letters from nearly 150 countries. Eighty of the letters were selected for broadcasting as joyful and touching video greetings. The videos will be posted on YouTube in December and sent to the applicants. There was also one marriage proposal from South Korea.
“The campaign has succeeded excellently in attracting interest. In addition to the large number of applications, more than 20 virtual interviews were conducted with various media around the world, including Japan, France, Russia and the United States. We have already received more than 100 media hits”, says Jimenez.
The Say it with Santa campaign continues until Christmas. In addition to video greetings, Santa Claus can be followed on Instagram live broadcasts, amongst other channels. Santa will also meet a chosen few lucky people by video.
The warm-hearted Christmas campaign can be followed by going to www.sayitwithsanta.com and the Visit Finland social media channels: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram: @ourfinland.
See the Christmas greetings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBiH38gg8o&list=PLdYdi0py1U8cZsg_PtL7k_hqWiX38IyMB
Hint: Say it with Santa live Instagram broadcasts @ourfinland: Friday 11 December from 1:30 pm to 2 pm Finnish time / Japan and 8 pm to 9 pm / global, and the Chinese live broadcast at 12 noon https://weibo.com/ourfinland.
Further information for the media:
Mervi Holmén, Marketing Communications Manager. Visit Finland | Business Finland
mervi.holmen@businessfinland.fi 040 089 2488
Heli Jimenez, Senior Director, International Marketing. Visit Finland | Business Finland
heli.jimenez@businessfinland.fi 050 5943 832
Heli Hemgård, Communications Manager. Visit Finland | Business Finland
heli.hemgard@businessfinland.fi 040 901 5219
As a national travel industry expert and an active operator in the field, Visit Finland is responsible for promoting international travel to Finland. Visit Finland supports travel industry companies and groups in the development and marketing of travel services targeted at the international market. Visit Finland is part of Business Finland www.visitfinland.fi / www.visitfinland.com
Business Finland is a Finnish public-sector operator which offers innovation funding and internationalisation services and promotes tourism and investments in Finland. The organisation employs 750 specialists in about 40 global locations and 16 offices in Finland. Business Finland is part of the Team Finland network. www.businessfinland.fi
