Is Santa an Ambassador For Your Business? Charles George

Charles George - "Publish to Thrive"

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Publish to Thrive Radio Show
Welcome to the Publish the Thrive Radio Show. Every business owner can benefit from publishing their knowledge. Whether you are creating content for social media, blog posts, videos, podcasts, newsletters, books, or other types of premium content. Everyone is a publisher.  Publishing helps you reach new prospects, strengthen relationships with current customers, and create additional revenue opportunities.

I'm your host Charles George. I am a digital direct marketer and copywriter. For about 20 years, I have consulted with businesses on creating marketing campaigns that reach new customers and sell more to their current customers. Today, I focus on building profitable online audiences and brands.

On the show, we talk about marketing, sales, and growth for a stage 3 businesses.
 
Show Objectives
A brief history of Santa Claus
Santa Claus originated from a monk named St. Nicholas, known for his kindness and generosity, who was born around 240 A.D.
Over the years, St. Nicholas' legend grew, and in 1773, he made his way to America when a New York newspaper reported Dutch Families gathered to honor him on the anniversary of his death.

But it wasn't until the 1800's that Santa's image was used commercially. Gift giving at Christmas has centered around children since the early 19th century. In the 1840's special newspaper sections started appearing that featured holiday ads. As Santa's popularity continued to grow, he was featured throughout these newspaper ads.

Santa Visits Coca Cola
In the 1930's, Coca Cola started featuring Santa's in their ad campaigns. These ads featured Santa as a jolly elf in a red and white suite, drinking a coke, and coming down the chimney to deliver gifts to children. This image of Santa was largely inspired by the 1822 poem by an episcopal minister, Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit From St. Nicholas", or what is now known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas". These Coca Cola ads were featured in many of the most popular magazines and newspapers. Thus, the legend of Santa continued to evolve.

The Coca Cola ads became so popular, and created such engagement, when any change was made to Santa people would write to the Coca-Cola company. An example. one year, Santa was not wearing a wedding ring in the ads. This caused people to send letters to Coca Cola asking what happened to Mrs. Claus. 
 
Segment 2 -Key Issues- What You Need to Know

Santa Claus and the Retail Industry
In 1890, James Edgar of Brockton, Massachusetts, appeared as Santa in his grain store. Children were so excited they flocked to the store. The biggest difference was the suit. James Edgar's suite resembled Thomas Nast's portrayal of Santa that was featured in the 1862 Harper's Weekly, Christmas issue. After this, stores across the United States and Canada started featuring Santa during Christmas to attract children of all ages.  

In 1924, Macy's started featuring Santa during the 1st Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Today, children visit malls and stores to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what gifts they want.

Santa Today
Today Santa is an icon during the holidays throughout our culture. He is featured in ads, visits parades, attends parties, stars in movies and cartoons, decorates homes, and is an everlasting megastar. 

Did you know that there is a Fraternal Order of Real Bearded

Santas? This is a union of Santas that connects, meets, and interacts several times throughout the year.

Santa's radio – This is a new holiday radio station in Richmond, VA on 100.9FM. There are no DJ's, it's just Santa or the elves laughing and talking between Christmas songs. Its a lot of fun

Santa Claus Print Magazine – This is the official magazine of the North Pole written by the elves.
The International Santa Hall of Fame – The Hall of Fame honors the men and women representing and honoring Santa.

​Segment 3 –

​A cast of characters and settings that you can use to promote your business.
Santa, Elves, Reindeer,  Mrs. Claus, Snowmen
Settings- North Pole, Elves in the Workshops, Santa’s home

How can you create your own Santa stories to promote your business, products and services?
Social media,
Blog posts,
Newsletters,
Facebook ads,
Images,
Etc.

Segment 4- What You Need to Do​
Analyze a few of my favorite Classic Santa Ads.
Visit www.PublishtoThrive.com/Santa to see a couple of ads that we are going to talk about on the show.  
 
Next: Episode Summary of Season 3
Previous Episode: Sales Metrics I
 
About Charles George
Charles George is passionate about helping purpose-driven entrepreneurs create a lifestyle business by combining publishing with direct marketing.

One of the fastest and most profitable ways to build an audience is through email. Download Charles' free report 101 Ways to Increase the Size of Your Email List. http://publishtothrive.com/IBGR
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