It was approaching December when we were planning a Digital PR campaign. Now…. who travels a long way at Christmas, and who needs a big boot to carry a lot of things? Santa Claus of course! And there was our idea: #SantaGoesElectric.

The idea involved Santa driving an electric and fully campaign-branded Renault ZOE “sleigh” around the UK, delivering free gifts, with the public able to engage and track the car on social media through the campaign hashtag. The underpinning concept was to demonstrate the ZOE’s capabilities and ease any misconceptions, by demonstrating the miles covered, while the gifts delivered showcased the range and capacity of the vehicle.

Prior to the launch day, Honchō spent a day on the phone to professors and government environment advisors to find out how much CO2 nine reindeer would emit so that we could calculate their cost per mile (carrots per mile!).

Comparing this with the emission and cost of a Renault ZOE making the same trip, it positioned the car as a cost-effective, environmentally-viable solution. We used an infographic to demonstrate this when talking to journalists. The press angle was that Santa would use a four-day test drive to see how far he can get and how many gifts he can deliver in his ZOE sleigh to see if it is time to retire his reindeer and go 100% electric.

To give the campaign a strong news angle for press and increase the public engagement and likelihood of links – especially over the festive season – we used the opportunity to show Renault’s commitment to its local communities near its dealerships.

We took it as a chance to spread local Christmas cheer and added surprise gift drops to charities and hospices to the plan, in addition to the public who were signing up for free gifts via social media. Partnering up with luxury chocolate brand Montezuma for the Christmas gifts also saw the campaign rocket to national success from the brand partnerships.