A lot has been said about the need for brands communicating online to shift from a mindset of control to one that’s a little more relaxed and open and engaging from a customer perspective. Smarter companies are ceding a degree of control of their brands to the public and, in doing so, are building communities of loyal fans.
Perhaps they could learn from the Santa Claus brand? Here is a brand that continues to stay true to its values and seemingly gets stronger with each generation. People buy the merchandise and put it on display every year: they dress up in Santa costumes and their children go along with the myth despite not necessarily believing in it. It’s a great brand to represent the values of the midwinter festival and has cultural cues in tune with the world’s three great monotheistic religions.
Santa spends not a penny on marketing (everyone else does that for him: manufacturers and retailers, all of whom are pretty respectful of the brand values).
Most people can agree on what Santa Claus looks like - jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. But he did not always look that way and it was Coca-Cola’s advertising that actually helped shape this modern-day image.
Starting in 1931, magazine ads for Coca-Cola featured St Nick as a kind, jolly man in a red suit. Because magazines were so widely viewed, and because this image of Santa appeared for more than three decades, the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on Coke’s advertising.
Before the 1931 introduction of the Coca-Cola Santa Claus, the image of Santa ranged from big to small and fat to tall. Santa even appeared as an elf. There was no consensus about his appearance and characteristics.
The Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly in 1862: Santa was shown as a small elf-like figure who supported the Union. Nast continued to draw Santa for 30 years and along the way changed the colour of his coat from tan to the now traditional red. Although some people believe the Coca-Cola Santa wears red because that is the Coke colour, the red suit comes from Nast’s interpretation of St Nick.
The Coca-Cola Company began its Christmas advertising in the 1920s with shopping-related ads in magazines like the USA’s Saturday Evening Post. The first Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, in the vein of Thomas Nast.
The first Coca-Cola Santa Claus image created by artist Haddon Sunblom appeared in 1931 in The Saturday Evening Post. This has formed our impression of Santa as a plump, jolly, grey-bearded man.
From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola advertising showed Santa delivering (and playing!) with toys, pausing to read a letter and enjoying a Coke. He was portrayed playing with children who stayed up to greet him and raiding the refrigerators at a number of homes.
The original oil paintings Sundblom created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines, store displays, billboards, posters, calendars and even dolls.
