The Best Santa Wins

The mall with the best Santa can win more holiday shoppers. With seven Macerich retail centers in four states, marketing company Becker Group made this happen with an interactive Santa display.

 

The Santa Tracking System offered digital photo sessions that placed shoppers in an airborne sleigh flying over famous landmarks. Guests also were educated on the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)'s traditional tracking of Santa. An accompanying Web site lets visitors send letters to Santa, chat with Oliver D. Elf and play games. By late November, Macerich's Westside Pavilion Center in Los Angeles had already reported that Santa photo sales were up more than 40 percent over the previous year.