Smith and Caughey’s Santa 2024
Santa & Christmas Promotional Material and Advertising
Visits to Smith & Caughey’s Santa’s Enchanted Forest remained a beloved Christmas tradition for generations of Aucklanders. In 2024, I had the privilege of bringing this iconic experience to life from a marketing perspective—my first Santa during my time with Smith & Caughey’s.
Working within a creative formula developed by our Brand Lead, I was responsible for implementing a cohesive visual experience across all customer touchpoints. This included the design of this years ‘Santa’ wordmark & patterns. The rollout of social media assets, branding & design for the online homepage and booking system, store-wide signage, immersive wayfinding throughout the Santa experience itself, and printed take-home materials for guests.
A signature feature of the campaign was the typographic treatment of the word Santa—styled with the charm and grandeur of a classic Christmas movie title. Paired with a festive seasonal pattern, this design approach created a visually rich, emotionally resonant identity that translated seamlessly across digital and print applications.
While we didn’t realise it at the time, 2024 would mark the final year of Santa at Smith & Caughey’s. I'm proud to have played a part in shaping the farewell chapter of such a treasured legacy.
Project Name
Santa’s Enchanted Forest Experience - Promotional Material & Advertising.
Smith & Caughey’s
Year
2024
Credits:
Designer Emma Davies
Design Assistance:
Tash Coyle
Santa Experience Installation
& Art Direction
Kevin Broadfoot & Saimai Utto
Landing Page, Bookings & Downloads
The largest and arguably most important part of the customer journey began months before the experience itself opened, with the advertising and booking process. We developed the identity using the same artwork and branding as that year’s Santa, starting with the festive and bespoke Santa “hub” (landing page), the booking engine, and the post-visit photo download screens.
The project began with the creation of the landing page, moving from wireframing and prototyping in Adobe XD through to handover with developers. This involved navigating significant platform limitations while still delivering a premium, brand-aligned experience, alongside managing constant copy and information changes from internal stakeholders.
I also designed responsive mobile versions; however, these were not fully implemented as intended by the development team, resulting in a final mobile experience that did not reflect my original vision.
In-Experience Materials and Items
To enhance the overall Santa experience and add thoughtful, tangible moments for families, we also had a range of supporting collateral. This included a custom photo card for printed Santa photos, whimsical wishlists for kids to fill out while they waited, and a festive free bauble given to every child after their visit (which I designed in house 6+ months in advance in order to manufacture them in time).
We also created a beautifully illustrated tote bag, which was sold as part of a limited-edition bundle with our chosen Christmas book. Each item was designed to feel special and cohesive with the wider visual identity, extending the magic of the experience beyond the store and giving families keepsakes to remember their visit.
Wayfinding and
In-store Signage
As part of the wider Santa experience, we also created all in-store and in-experience wayfinding, including vinyls (on the lifts), directional signage, and artwork for the check-in desks.
These design elements were key to guiding families through the space while maintaining a sense of magic and excitement throughout the journey. Every touchpoint—from the first floor entrance to the check-in area and beyond—was carefully considered to feel cohesive with the digital campaign and booking flow.
Consistency in design helped create a seamless, intuitive experience for customers and played a vital role in keeping the Christmas magic alive from start to finish.
Social Media & Advertising
One of, if not the largest part of this campaign was our advertising leading up to and during the bookings and experience opening. It helped build excitement and keep customers in the loop. While the event was hugely popular and tickets often sold themselves, our job was to make sure people knew when sales opened and to give timely updates as sessions started filling up.
To keep everything feeling festive and consistent, we created a set of campaign assets that matched the overall Santa look and feel, to keep the magic alive at every point of the customers journey to their visit. On top of this, we also put together extra creative for Christmas messages and store hours, so even the more practical updates carried the same seasonal spirit.
The result was a fun, magical social campaign that kept the buzz going and gave customers the information they needed during the busiest time of year.
