Macy's harnessed the power of record breaking for their Christmas 2014 Believe campaign with a successful attempt at the title for the longest wish list to Santa title last month.
Since launching seven years ago the Believe program, which aims to encourage Macy’s customers to share in the spirit of goodwill and generosity, has raised more than $8.7 million to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation - an organisation that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.
The program traditionally features a Father Christmas letter collection component, however, for 2014, Macy’s aimed to expand upon past campaigns by adding a record-breaking element.
With customers able to create and send their letters digitally for the first time via the Macy’s website, the brand set about the ambitious goal of breaking the record for the longest wish list to Santa, with each letter collected seeing the company donate $1 to Make-A-Wish.
Macy’s promoted the attempt with an online video and social media campaign featuring an elf named Gadget who had been entrusted to deliver the children’s wishes to Santa’s doorstep.
Following an overwhelming response from customers and wishers around the world, Macy’s achieved their am, setting a new Guinness World Records title after receiving 121,138 wishes, beating the previous record of 75,954 wishes set in 2012.
Upon confirmation of the record, Martine Reardon, chief marketing officer for Macy’s said: “This season, we have even more to celebrate with our new Guinness World Records title for the longest wish list to Santa, all made possible by the believers who submitted their wishes as part of our Believe experience online.”
The record attempt received nationwide media coverage, including ABC’s Good Morning America.
