We built a recording studio in the mall and invited families with children to participate in an experiment related to Christmas with a lie detector test: we asked the children questions about different topics and recorded how they often lie or make up stories. The one question we asked all the kids was “Who is Santa Claus?” Their answers were very imaginative, and gave us a glimpse of what they believe and hope for—not how they lie.

one area of the shopping mall. We decorated it for Christmas and set up a lie detector test. When kids came by, we told them that we were going to talk to them about certain topics. We hooked them up to the lie detector test and began chatting. We video recorded most of the interviews.

• Media channels and integration The shopping mall itself was the media where the action was carried out. We then expanded the action by videos shared on the social networks and a television commercial, as well as a multimedia campaign.

• Timeline The action began in mid-November, when the Christmas decorations are set up, and continued until December 24.

• Action/business results – impact Despite a serious recession, traffic in the mall increased by 24% compared to the previous Christmas, and sales by 18%. The impact on the brand image was significant, as is evident from the very positive reaction to the content in the social networks (1.36 million impressions, 1.8 million views, US$15 million in earned media, 800,000 social media interactions)

• Outcomes/awareness In addition to the explosion of the action on the social networks, a number of national media (TV, newspapers, radio stations, and websites) reported on the action as content. One media in Mexico even published a story entitled “Christmas action has significant impact on Argentines.”

We used the physical space of the shopping mall as a means of communication in an action in which the public, the customers, took center stage.

• Target audience ABC1 families with children between the ages of two and six from Buenos Aires and the city’s northern suburbs.

• Media planning The shopping mall itself was the media. That was where we encountered the public, which played a leading role in the action. We also communicated the action to a wider audience by means of videos uploaded on to the social networks showing some of the highlights of the interviews with the kids.

• Approach It was during the annual visit to get a photo taken with Santa Claus that we asked parents if they would be willing to let their kids to take part in a Christmas experiment.

• Situation Argentina was in the middle of a serious recession, and a dramatic drop in sales was feared

• Brief We needed to stand out from our competition, rival shopping malls, but due to market factors we could not engage in an aggressive marketing strategy that would increase traffic and sales.

• Objectives By means of visits to Santa Claus, increase the traffic of persons in the mall compared to the previous year, despite the recession; or, if that proved impossible, at least minimize the drop in sales,