Agency Christmas Round-up: Games, cards, lip-sync battles and charity projects

From lip sync battles to spectacular light shows, creatives have definitely upped the festive game this year.

Scroll down to take a look at what ad land's finest have come up with to fill us with cheer as 2015 comes to an end.

Anomaly

As part of a festive social experiment, creative agency Anomaly has asked kids: ‘if Santa was a woman, could she do the job?’

The playful and quietly provocative 90-second video sees the children interviewed reel off a series of charming, surprising and heavily gender-biased reasons for why, they believe, a ‘lady Santa’ couldn’t do the job.

The video was directed by RSA’s Greg Fay, and follows Anomaly's #MoreWomen work for Elle.

Isobel

Isobel’s Christmas tradition of setting up intricate photoshoots for staff celebrated its 10th year in 2015.

This year’s ambitious task involved the whole company – from receptionist to chief executive – enduring three hours of painstaking hair and makeup and prosthetics to become OAPs.

Costumes and wigs followed and then each company member was required to get into character in order to create an authentic 'old-person’s' Christmas party tableaux.

Nabs

Nabs #ColourMeChristmas initiative aims to raise awareness around mindfulness throughout the festive season.

The agency sent adult colouring books out to its clients to help them unleash their creative side.

Jaywing

Jaywing has captured the spirit of its creative team in a tongue-in-cheek manner with a spoof video this year.

Not wanting to follow suit of other agencies with a melting snowman or 'Ask Santa' digital campaign, Jaywing fell upon the idea of creating the ultimate Agency Action Heroes; a range of dolls embracing some of the stereotypes associated with people working in the industry in an engaging way.

The project will also see the team send clients ‘top trumps’ style collector cards.

Khanna\Reidinga

Can you imagine a world where trees are humans and humans are trees? Amsterdam agency K\R did just that for its agency Christmas clip.

One human is left very confused after being picked out by a tree family and decked in fairy lights.

The consultancy said it wasn’t its intention to make the strangest festive film of 2015, but that it’s “very happy” it has.

BrandOpus

To celebrate Christmas, design agency BrandOpus sent clients and friends a chocolate coin.

The traditional sweet is displayed within a large window in the style of an advent calendar which holds the signatures of the entire agency (including the Australia office and all new starters) to ensure that a personal touch came through.

Publicis Groupe

For its annual rendez-vous with clients and friends, Publicis invites viewers to skip ahead to 2016 with Maurice Lévy .

Opening up by with the network's boss informing recipients that "times are too tough to play around", the network's festive film allows the viewers to skip Lévy's speech to watch the ads.

The humorous spot shows the Frenchman making a cameo in several ads – from a shampoo campaign to a washing powder infomercial.

Stickyeyes

The design and development team at digital agency Stickyeyes has created what has been described as ‘the greatest 8-bit Christmas themed zombie game ever made in 2015’.

Santa and his trusty reindeer Rudolph need help to deliver gifts this Christmas and, if they’re going to succeed, they’ll need you to deck the halls with zombie brains.

Can you save Christmas from the zombie invasion?

Iris

Iris is taking a different approach for its Christmas card this year, teaming up with the ‘Wish Upon a Star’ charity to raise funds to send children with life-threatening illnesses to meet Santa himself in Lapland. Flying the flag as Britain’s second fittest company, the agency has put treadmills and bikes in its front window in an attempt to clock up 3,273km – the distance from its HQ in London to Lapland.

The card’s design is more refined than most, opting to let the sincerity of the activity do the talking. Receivers can visit the iristolapland.com site to make a donation and leave a good luck message.

SapientNitro

SapientNitro has launched the world’s first speech to emoji translator app to help tackle ‘tech zombie behaviour at Christmas’.

While speaking into their smartphone, users see their words translated into a series of emoticons which they can share via social media or SMS.

The recipient has the option of then replying in emoji, or translating the emoji to text.

Aesop

Aesop’s 'Christmas Curosities' campaign for Maggie’s has seen the agency curate a collection of Christmas-themed ‘curiosities’ complete with a collection of ‘unbelievable stories’.

Ebayers are able to purchase the little drummer boy's ‘drum’, a second-hand shrunken magic carpet and a reusable wishbone as part of the initiative.

All funds raised will go to cancer charity Maggie’s.

AgencyUK

AgencyUK has created interactive Christmas card to mark the festive season.

The image was hand painted by Kate Davies, an illustrator and watercolourist, who turned the company’s Bath office into a snowspace crammed full of Christmas musical chaos.

25 festive song titles are hidden in the scene ready for viewers to hunt out. As part of the project, the firm filmed behind the scenes creating a timelapse video of Davies in action using a GoPro.

Southpaw

Southpaw is getting in the festive spirit with a good old-fashioned game of charades.

The agency is posting one video a day as it counts down to Christmas, putting its staff on the spot for your viewing pleasure.

CIC

Stoke-based creative agency CIC has created 23 Christmas movies in under five minutes using the magic of CGI and green screen.

The company’s staff were on hand to get involve with the video, starring in several iconic film scenes from blockbusters such as Love Actually and It’s a Wonderful Life.

The Gate

The Gate has created a snowflake Christmas card made up of animals which have been laser cut into the design.

It demonstrates the work of client PDSA, and asks people for a donation which can help 'fill the gaps' of funding.

Karmarama

Karmarama wanted to make use of 'bad ideas' this Christmas by making its card from rejected crumpled pieces of paper.

Pulped and reincarnated for the festive season, the result is clean-looking as well as eco-friendly.

Indicia

Customer engagement agency Indicia worked with a local primary school on a festive mural to commemorate the occasion.

The firm bought eight thousand neon sticky notes in hopes of arranging them into a giant pixel-art mural in a single day.

Dubbed ‘Reindeer Spies in Disguise’ all 470 pupils laid a post-it note on the mural as the classes came and went in a flurry of day-glo paper. By the time the bell rang at the end of the day, Indicia had managed to create six reindeers.

Wunderman

Emojis take centre stage in Wunderman's Christmas offering this year.

Asking clients 'What do you want this Christmas?' the company invited its Twitter users to take part in a data visualisation project using iconic emoticions such as the pizza slice and Christmas tree emojis.

Bulletproof

Bulletproof Christmas 2015 from Bulletproof on Vimeo.

Bulletproof used the power of light to spread some festive cheer.

The design agency's staff indulged in some champers before putting on a spectacular torch show in a London park to wish its supporters and merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Lewis

Forget the traditional Christmas card, Scottish digital and design agency Lewis is challenging its clients and social media followers to a game of digital charades.

The agency’s creatives have been filmed acting out everyone’s favourite movies and Christmas songs, and are encouraging players to shout their best guess.

The top ten contestants will be celebrated on a digital leader board, which will update in real-time.

Ferrier Pearce Creative Group

Based on the premise that this year Santa decided to use social media to help gather information to compile his Christmas list, Ferrier Pearce Creative Group produced a kit to help people post pictorial evidence of naughty or nice behaviour online.

The agency sent out a jingle-full goody pack to clients containing branded badges and some examples of naughty and nice deeds to encourage them to take pictures of themselves or colleagues wearing the stickers and post to Twitter or Instagram with hashtags #FPCGnaughty or #FPCGnice.

A winner for each hashtag will be selected and will receive an appropriate naughty or nice gift.

MEC

A lip sync battle was sent round MEC's clients this year in place of a traditional Christmas card.

The global agency has launched an internal competition inviting staff across its network of offices to deliver a Season’s Greetings message by singing and dancing along to their favourite festive track.