Tweet

Santa Claus Needs to Get Up with the Times

Guest post by: Bob Bentz

Article Overview: Santa Claus is an icon worldwide and is perhaps the greatest businessperson of all time. But, Santa's penache seems to be slipping as he has once again failed to keep up with the times and start offering mobile marketing.

Santa Claus Needs to Get Up with the Times

North Pole - Who's the greatest businessman of all-time? No, it's not Henry Ford, nor is it John D. Rockefeller. Bill Gates? Ted Turner? Donald Trump? David Ogilvy?

Give me a break.

The greatest businessman of all time is, without a doubt, Santa Claus.

Think about it. His customers return year after year. He has a factory that churns out toys 24/7 with little overhead. He has loyal employees; of course, there aren't a lot of jobs in the world in this tough economy, so imagine how hard it is for elves these days.

Santa Claus has a promotions department that secures prime visibility in crowded malls and gets him grand marshal positions in parades all over the world. He also has a public relations staff that writes songs, poems, and even produces television shows with him as the star.

He's an advertising genius. Just watch TV in December and see how many commercials he's on. I've seen him drinking Coca-Cola for years and am still amazed how he can balance himself on that Norelco razor.

And talk about customer service. It's the best in the world. No waiting on hold to talk to his telemarketers. He knows what you want, often without your even telling him.

But, sometimes I think Santa Claus is slipping a bit the last few years. He hasn't really embraced Web 2.0, html5,or any new social networkingtechnology very well. Heck, he doesn't even have a Facebook account! His workers still use basic tools from the pre-Industrial Revolution. His mode of transportation still involves livestock (and don't tell me one animal with a light bulb on his nose is innovative). His ordering process is downright archaic. I mean, who writes letters any more?

What Santa Claus needs is text messages. Worldwide,over 6 trillion text messages are sent each year, but how many of you have ever received one, or sent one, to the North Pole? Moreover, 18% of those 6 trillion text messages are considered commercial text messages. Don't you think a broadcast text message would be a great way for Santa to get rid of some of his closeout inventory? I hear there's a warehouse at the North Pole that still has half a million eight-tracks in it!

Did you ever watch the late news on television on Christmas Eve? There's usually some cheesy graphic there with a picture of Santa flying over some other country. In the eastern United States, I think he's usually in Slovakia during our 11 o'clock newscast. Well, I'm an insomniac and I often stay up late-even on Christmas Eve. I would love to get a text message to know when Santa is getting close to my hometown so I can get to bed on time. If Southwest can notify me of its flight arrivals by text message, I would think Santa could announce the progress of his reindeer with all those clever little engineers he has on his staff.

Ordering is another issue. How many of you still have envelopes and stamps in your house? How much postage do you need to put on a letter to the North Pole anyway? Plus, there's the issue of the postal service losing your snail mail which happens a lot this time of year.

I'm still waiting for the BMW I asked for last year.

With text messages, we could send in our Christmas lists to Santa Claus through a short code, say 72682 (S-A-N-T-A). With an easy-to-use mobile marketing solution, Santa could confirm receipt and even tell you if you've been...bad or good.

Maybe that's what happened to my Beemer.

Related Articles
  Santa Claus
  You are Santa Claus
  Why Santa was sued for a personal grievance when he changed the Elf roster
  Santa The Consummate Entrepreneur
  Debunking the Six Degrees of Separation
  Santa Claus Meets Happiness: Finding Ways To Reduce Turnover That Aren't From The North Pole
  Keep Looking Up and Take Back Our Liberties
  How to Have a Natural Holiday High
  Surviving Christmas Without Grievous Bodily Harm – It Can Be Done!
  Sales Training Salespeople Dear Santa Letter Wishes to Deliver
  Entrepreneurs, Investors Alert For Berkshire Investment Opportunity
  Springer Financial Advisors President Keith Springer in Sacramento CA Quoted In CNBC Article
  Run Your Own Race At Your Own Pace
  Stuck With A Zero Marketing Budget For Client Gifts
  Christmas Carols can help you manage holiday stress!
  Carlos Slim Helu Quotes
  Lesson #5: Everything Has a Bottom Line
  Who Do You Want To Be This Christmas?
  Changing Lanes and Shiny Objects
  Lesson #1: “I learned to make people love me to get my message across.”

Article Tags: mobile marketing, Santa Claus, text message
Referred by: http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/



Related Forum Posts
Re: Info for would be franchisers... - [quote="Sebastien":1d29sdv1]Like Franchise Times, Franchise Update is a very practical magazine. There is no blah blah, just straight facts that anyone in the franchise community can relate to. I just want to mention that all these magazines are NOT franchisee oriented. I mean these magazines are for franchise professionals. If you're looking to buy a franchise, you won't find much information in there. To answer your question, getting published in Franchise Times was fairly easy. I don't want to brag too much but I think I am known in the franchise industry. I was the marketing guy at Franchise.com for a few years before joining my new company, the World Franchising Network. So people know me and I have a very good relationship with Nancy Weingartner, the Managing Editor at Franchise Times. I was talking with her at the last Franchise Expo South in Miami and she mentioned she'd like me to be profiled. I was like "ok, sure!". I like this franchise executive profile thing in Franchise Times as it is rarely BS. People are usually really natural in there.[/quote:1d29sdv1] Thanks for the follow up Sebastien! And I can't say that I'm surprised that networking with the right people and managing your relationships with them properly are the keys to being published. I guess the old adage holds true of "it's not who you know, but who knows you" that's important.
Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
BAP #4 - "Tootle him with vigor." I love it. Here's a Christmas riddle... How do you know Santa has to be a man? No woman is going to wear the same outfit year after year.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Sales is a Flawed Model

Small Business Internet Marketing

Are You Too Good for Your Job?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.