Due to the Dominican Republic’s financial crisis, the 2012 Christmas season reported a record low in donations to help the poor. 2013 looked the same. La Sirena, the biggest retailer in the country, decided as part of their corporate responsibility for 2013, that they wanted to re-inspire a nation and motivate people to come together and give again.

For this we created a surprise live action in rural poor communities that have never experienced the magic of Christmas, generating real content to help inspire people by showing them how amazing it could be for someone who feels Christmas for the first time.

Our idea: TAKING CHRISTMAS WHERE IT’S NEVER GONE BEFORE.

The action launched with a campaign through the web and social media, that would take people in real time on the secret journey from the making of the tree to it’s trip to the remote communities.

Print, TV, cinema, outdoor and guerrilla led people to a website where they could go deeper into the stories and get ideas on how to come together and help.

This caught the attention of local and international media creating massive good will and free press for the brand and the idea. Celebrities, schools and the whole nation took the campaign as their own; starting conversations, creating groups and even inspiring other brands to take action.

+4,000 people mobilize creating groups to help.

Most mentioned brand in social-networks in Christmas

Most Admired Brand of the year. Source: Mercado magazine 2014

The execution had to be magical and unexpected, we couldn't just show up and start handing out gifts. We wanted to give them a real surprise, like a 30 foot tall Christmas tree and gift with the names of everybody in the community underneath it.

This is how it worked.

The night before they went to bed there was no christmas tree. The next morning they awake (6:10 a.m.) to the sound of nice melody when they step out the door. 20 meters away is a giant christmas tree and no one around.

The installation of the tree was done late at night in strict silence. 20 hidden cameras were placed strategically to capture the communities reaction. 5 communities were done in a period of one week, creating a big live following throw social media from the journey of the tree to the community, its installation and the magical awakening.

All this, caught the attention of local and international media creating massive good will and free press for the brand and the idea. Celebrities, schools and the whole nation immediately took the campaign as their own; starting conversations, creating groups and even inspiring other brands to take our hashtag to motivate other people to take action.

The 2 minute spots were featured in local and international TV shows for free.

20 radio stations talked about the action and motivated people to donate.

The action was featured in local and international web pages and blogs

+4,000 people mobilized to create groups to help the poor.

Fan Page increased 15% and Twitter 30% (first 3 days)

Most mentioned brand in social networks in Dom. Rep. in the Christmas season

Voted Most Admired Brand of the year. Source: Mercado magazine January 2014