Santa goes camping

In one of its most exciting Christmas campaigns yet, the chain has undertaken the mammoth task of building life-size Father Christmas sand castles in two of its major stores.

“This is the first time Cape Union Mart has embarked on a campaign of this scale but we saw it as a true reflection of how we like our customers to enjoy their summer break – exploring the great outdoors - from the mountains to the beach,” says Marketing Manager, Evan Torrance.

The remaining 55 stores each received a fibreglass moulded Santa Clause, complete with sand finish and very closely resembling the real thing. The creative concept of King James Advertising Agency, the motivation for the campaign was a summer seaside Christmas. Months of planning and the careful artistic execution by Reon Zeff contributed to the overall effectiveness of the campaign. The sand castles in Canal Walk and Tygervalley each required a week of building and together used approximately 5 tons of sand.

Constructing the sand castle in-store attracted much attention from onlookers as a large crowd stopped to catch Zeff in action. “It has been an exciting year for us and Christmas was the cherry on top from a visual merchandising perspective. We were thrilled when presented the concept and are overjoyed with the result,” Torrance concluded.