It’s a German tradition to give kids an advent calendar on the first of December.

The 24 doors, hiding a chocolate treat, are opened daily till Christmas eve on the 24th.

The campaign: “The magical Advent Calendar” plays with that tradition by creating a multimedia experience that offers new content daily.

In the story little Jonas – a boy who would never share – finds the magical calendar and discovers that he can’t open the little doors on his own. Only with the help of others he can open the doors and reveal the chocolaty treat. While the film ends with Jonas sharing the last piece of chocolate with his sister Sara, the whole story was revealed piece by piece in an interactive audiobook via the website and Soundcloud.

By creating 24 episodes the campaign accompanied the Germans through the whole Christmas season.

In the center of the campaign: the magic calendar – an interactive audiobook.

Every day another chapter was released. Each one with attention to detail: hand drawn and fully animated illustrations with distinct character, each set up in elaborate WebGL to generate a 180°-view in 3D, multiple layers and gamification-elements to add an immersive experience. As well as the option to experience the adventure via Google Cardboard.

Thanks to an interdisciplinary design the adventure was a consistent experience throughout all devices and channels.

“The Magic Advent Calendar” achieved 13 million views on YouTube, 500.000 unique visits to the campaigns microsite and 350.000 plays on Soundcloud. The audio book even entered the German download and streaming charts: no. 1 in audio book charts, no. 5 in album charts.