Spain’s smart phone penetration is the highest in Europe, so we decided to work on a special App for Christmas that everyone can use. Christmas is about enjoying time together with the family. It is also a very special time for children. However, in Spain it is thought that technology is robbing children of their childhood. We wanted the technology in our Christmas campaign to do the opposite. We wanted ours to enhance the thrill and excitement in the build up to Christmas, actively engaging mums and dads by harnessing Smartphone technology in a completely new way to ramp up the magic and excitement of Christmas for their kids.

SantApp is an app that demonstrates the versatility of the medium as a bridge connecting the physical world with the digital environment. Using two standard functions on a Smartphone, the flash and loudspeaker, it creates a magical atmosphere that makes children and accompanying adults literally feel in the presence of Santa Claus himself, moving around in their living room at home delivering presents on Christmas Eve.

The app that we designed was free to use and had several different language options as well as a database of thousands children’s names that families could personalize, enabling them to make their experience completely unique. Users just had to enter the name of the child or children, place their mobile behind the door of the room where the Christmas presents are kept, turn out the lights and then go in search of their kids. From the other side of the door the light and sound effects would team up with mums and dads to thrill and excite the little ones at Christmas.

Just one week after launch and with zero investment in media:

- SantApp reached the Nº1 spot as the most popular entertainment app at the Spain Apple Store.

- More than 160,000 families experienced the App.It was downloaded and installed in homes in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Spain, United States, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey.

- More than 1,700 positive app reviews on Google Play and the App Store.

- Average of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

- More than 3,500 mentions in the media, impacting over 5 million people.

- Most importantly, we managed to revive the magic of Christmas, using technology to keep the magic of Christmas - and childhood -alive for children.