How festive London can inspire us marketing folk

I came across these creative ideas over the past few days as I walked about in London. They all had an element of fun, surprise and freshness and offer a few lessons for us direct marketing folk who are always on the hunt for something new to engage our audience with.

1. Piccadilly Circus in a snow globe
Westminster Council went all out with its festive touches, encasing Piccadilly’s iconic statue of Eros in a giant snow globe. The structure was erected to protect the Grade 1 statue from acts of vandalism in the run-up to the festivities but its a heart-warming sight – a great example of how creativity can make heads turn and hearts melt. Passers-by are expected to blow into the snow globe to let the ‘snow fall’, bringing in the interactive angle and I can’t wait to go see it myself.

2. Snowstorm on Oxford Street

London’s busiest retail street with over 300 shops brands and over £5bn in sales annually, Oxford Street has come a long way in creating a brand image of its own. Considerable effort and resources have gone into making it, Bond Street, Regent Street and 22 other streets around it one of the most sought after shopping business improvement districts in the world.

This year they spent £1.5m on replacing their stars and gift box Christmas lights, which they used for the past couple of years, with a brand new simple yet effective showcase of Christmas spirit. Aptly titled ‘Snowstorm’, the lights cover the 1.5 miles of the street in differently sized white globes. Add to that the natural canvas of London’s beautiful sunsets and you get a ‘campaign’ unmatched by any other and sure to create a buzz on social mediawith pictures.

3. Dot London

Okay, so this one isn’t Christmas related but I’ve included it here because I think it’s really exciting. London will be getting its own domain name in the summer of 2014. .london is the newest generic top-level domain name to be registered by ICANN. Also joining the list are cities New York, Paris, Vienna, Berlin and Brussels. London & Partners, the city’s mouthpiece to the world, will auction the domain names from spring 2014 and will add a city-specificpersonal touch to the digital identity of the Capital’s businesses. Gordon Innes, chief executive of London & Partners, the promotional agency for London said it has seen huge interest from top stores, visitor attractions and other businesses in the city.

By Yashraj Jain, Research Executive, DMA