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Agency Christmas Round-up: Games, apps, cards and charity projects

By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

Southpaw

|

RAPP article

December 19, 2014 | 13 min read

With Christmas just around the corner The Drum has pulled together a selection of work from agencies celebrating the festive season.

From clever eCards to secret Santa apps – we've been impressed by this year's seasonal offerings from adland.

Scroll down to take a look at what agencies have come up with to get us in the Christmas spirit.

Isobel

Just like John Lewis' festive ads Isobel's Christmas cards have have become a celebrated event in the adland calendar.

Each year the entire company dresses up and creates extraordinary tableaux that are then photographed and used as the agency's annual Christmas card.

This year, each staff member spent three hours having skull caps expertly fitted by prosthetic make-up artists, before spending six hours channeling their inner zen in front of the camera to create the ultimate scene of peace and goodwill.

Jelly London

For this year’s Christmas card Jelly decided to do something a little different.

Instead of the clichéd images associated with the Christmas period, the agency asked artists Joe Waldron and Paul Imrie to create a unique tribute to London, looking especially wondrous for Christmas.

OgilvyOne

OgilvyOne commissioned award-winning artist John Afflick to create an oil painting showing a modern British family at Christmas painted in a traditional style.

Each detail in the painting represents one of OgilvyOne's clients and their products. For example, the Land Rover parked in the drive, a Dove decoration on the Christmas tree and a child playing with a mini Castrol truck.

The agency is sending out the card to all of its clients and the line inside reads: "It wouldn't be Christmas without you."

Southpaw

Southpaw Christmas Cubs from Southpaw on Vimeo.

Of course Christmas is all about the kids, but this year Southpaw went the extra mile and let children take over the office for a day.

Soundtracked by a rock and roll cover of The Pogues, the marketing communication agency's festive video is full of mischief.

Coley Porter Bell

CPB Xmas card 2014 from Coley Porter Bell on Vimeo.

This year Coley Porter Bell decided to follow in the footsteps of the Obamas, the Windsors and the Kardashians by releasing an official 'family' Christmas portrait.

The brand design consultancy revealed that it was also going to hire a photographer, but the retouching costs were prohibitive - so the video features animated versions of the agency's staff instead.

Maxus

This year's season’s greetings card from Maxus was centered around the theme of celebration.

The media agency decided to celebrate 2014 as a year for wins such as L’Oréal, NBC Universal and Vodafone, and it invited all of its offices, clients and suppliers to get involved by sharing their best moments from 2014 using the hashtag #holidayslambook on Instagram.

Rapp

Rapp UK is is helping Kids Company reap the benefits of unwanted Secret Santa gifts.

Thanks to the Secret Santa Exchange office workers nationwide have been given the chance to swap their unwanted presents and make a valuable donation to the children’s charity all in one place.

Bulletproof

Bulletproof Xmas - 2014 from Bulletproof on Vimeo.

Instead of creating a Christmas card, brand and packaging design agency Bulletproof created this colourful festive video featuring the team.

Hats off to the human Christmas tree!

Aesop

Aesop is giving the gift of reading this Christmas by donating books to Kids Company.

The agency aims to donate a total of 600 books to the charity for every person who signs up online.

Each book donated to the charity will include the names of all those who’ve clicked with over 450 donations made so far.

Collective

Whilst trying to embrace new technology for Collective’s Christmas card, Santa mistakenly found himself on Tinder.

The agency is now encouraging Tinder users to launch the app and swipe right when they come across the big man’s profile to help him escape before Christmas Eve.

Those who do might be in with the chance of meeting St Nick and bagging an early Christmas present.

Publicis Groupe

Publicis Groupe shunned the traditional Christmas card this year, opting instead to make a donation to Make-A-Wish kids.

The network made a video game featuring chief executive Maurice Lévy to encourage donations to the charity throughout the festive season.

We are social

This Christmas global social media agency We Are Social created #SecretSantaSacrifice - an initiative urging thousands of people spending £5 on an awkward novelty Secret Santa to ditch the gift and donate the money to Age UK instead.

Ogilvy Paris

Ogilvy Paris' Christmas greeting will resonate with anyone who’s struggled their way through a particularly difficult round of focus groups – where even an idea as splendid as Christmas might barely limp its way across the testing finish line.

Anomaly

Forget Christmas cards featuring idyllic glittering winter landscapes, this year Anomaly released a 'sexy' Jesus calendar.

The provocative and humorous project was shot by Oli Kellett with creative directorion from Alex Holder.

Havas

This holiday season Havas delivered warm wishes to those most in need by donating warm blankets on behalf of its 16,000 employees to the International Red Cross.

TBWA\Toronto

Instead of making ads to keep their clients happy this Christmas, TBWA\Toronto made toys for their clients’ kids.

Each child was sent a toy design kit and invited to create the best toy possible –TBWA\Toronto then brought these ideas to life with the help of MakeLab.

Once the toys were complete, special packaging unique to each toy was crafted before they were delivered to their creators.

Material

In honour of the time-old traditions of office parties and ad agency Christmas cards Material combined the two for its 2014 festive offering – Get App & Dance.

The dance off and gaming app features famous moves including the moonwalk, the Macarena and the Single Ladies dance, which will help Christmas parties across ad land go off with a bang.

RKCR/Y&R

RKCR/Y&R has decided to create a customised Christmas wrapping paper using Instagram in lieu of a holiday card this year.

In order to obtain your bespoke festive paper you need to submit a photo on Instagram using the hashtag #RKCRINSTAWRAP along with the address you want the wrapping paper sent to and voilà.

23red

23red's holiday card urges recipients to 'start a resolution', with an image that changes from Father Christmas to Che Guevara once opened.

RPM

RPM has designed this fact-filled advent calendar to celebrate Christmas.

A piece of festive trivia lies behind each window in the 'Did you Snow' countdown chart.

BrandOpus

BrandOpus kept it simple this year with a classy and traditional Christmas decoration wishing clients a wonderful Christmas.

Joint

Joint London created not one, but two, websites to celebrate Christmas 2014.

The first ‘Designer Santa’ lets users reboot the traditional look of Mr Claus thanks to some top fashion designers.

The second ‘Gift Rap’ offers the chance to win a selection of gifts, ranging from a fluffy penguin to an iPhone 6.

With a little help from LA-based freestyle rapper A-F-R-O prizes mentioned in the rap can be won just by sharing the ‘Gift Rap’ video via social media.

Love

Manchester-based Love has created a Christmas game challenging people to tell Christmas tales using only four letter words.

FOUR. WORD. XMAS. LOVE. is meant to be about sharing seasonal confessions and wishes and, of course, whittling away those last few hours in the office before the holidays.

Digital Annexe

Digital Annexe's tongue-in-cheek Christmas campaign promises to bring “all of your Christmases at once" with a series of apps designed to improve the festive season.

From ‘Buy Now’ to help with panic buying, to ‘3D Printing’ where you can "capture the spirit of Lapland in cheap plastic”, will leave users wishing that the apps were real.

WCRS

WCRS' Christmas offering has given bitcoins a distinctly festive flavour, and put a twist on a seasonal tradition.

The London-based agency has created 'Bitmas Pudding', a digital mobile game in which users eat their way through a Christmas pudding to see what’s hidden inside it.

Players are given the opportunity to win numerous prizes including a whole Bitcoin worth over £230, and in the spirit of goodwill, winners are given the option to donate their winnings to St Mungo’s Broadway charity if they so wish.

Conch

This year Conch created a simple recipe for a happier, relaxing and more indulgent Christmas.

The agency used cooks aporons to carry it's festive message, which were folded strategically to reveal a cheeky negative message which transformed into something much more positive as the package was unwrapped.

A simple solution to any budding Scrooges out there.

Equator

To get clients in the Christmas spirit the Glasgow branch of digital agency Equator has come up with 'Ping-Pong Merrily-On-High' – a competition inviting Twitter users to enter an online draw to win an M&S Christmas hamper.

The twist? Each time a tweet is submitted with the hashtag #EQTRXMAS, a real ping-pong ball is fired in the Equator office, the winners are selected randomly via the balls that make it into the net.

Sugar Creative

Cardiff design agency Sugar Creative has produced an augmented reality Christmas campaign inviting users to come and join the Sugar Creative team in a virtual living room, aptly decorated for the festive season.

Isobel Aesop Bulletproof

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