Jingle Sells, Jingle Sells

Jingle Sells, Jingle Sells - Brand Santa Worth $1.6 Trillion

Most of us will be expecting the latest branded goods this Christmas and we’ll be relying on Santa Claus to deliver them to us. But the latest research from experts Brand Finance shows that Santa is more valuable than all the brands he delivers.

Brand Santa is worth a staggering $1.6 trillion. In contrast, Apple, the most valuable brand of 2013 was valued by Brand Finance earlier this year at just $87.3 billion. Using an analysis similar to its corporate brand valuations, Brand Finance took in the economic areas where Santa makes his mark such as travel, retail and accommodation, then looked at the festive period uplift in revenues and applied a royalty rate to arrive at the final figure.

Santa Claus has been integral to the festive season for over a thousand years and in that time has built up unrivalled brand equity. While first establishing his brand, Santa was frequently seen in a variety of different guises, appearing most often in green, red or gold robes. However a shrewd partnership with Coca-Cola resulted in a sharpening of his brand image and a more consistent visual identity. Santa now enjoys unrivalled recognition and is an extremely lucrative ambassador for hundreds of brands.

Brand Finance CEO David Haigh commented “Santa is the gold (or should that be red & white) standard when it comes to branding. Recognised the world over, his team have done a meticulous job of managing his image and building his profile whilst keeping him relevant to successive generations. Who knows what novel ideas his team of elves are cooking up as we speak?”

Head Elf of R&D, Doaivu Josefsen, commented “We are always looking for new ways to enhance engagement and drive awareness amongst his young, technologically literate target demographic. We are harnessing the power of ‘Big Data’ to create our most sophisticated algorithm to date; this will provide Santa with the most accurate information yet on who’s been naughty or nice.”

The elves are making use of technology in other ways. Chief Elf and Safety Officer, Hennet Olsen, stated “Though Santa and his team of reindeer make light work of delivering presents to billions of people, in order to accelerate quickly enough to reach every house in one night he is subjected to a force of over 17,500 g. Recent EU legislation on worker safety applies here in Lapland and so we have been forced to lighten Santa’s workload. Consequently we have taken the lead from Amazon and will begin deliveries by drone.”

David Haigh concludes, “There are many sceptics who suggest Santa is a fake and nothing more than a marketing gimmick, any such rumours are entirely spurious of course. There is no doubt that Santa Claus is the World’s most valuable celebrity brand and it is no wonder that brands from Coke to VW to KFC want his endorsement.”

www.brandfinance.com www.brandirectory.com www.brandfinanceforum.com

ENDS

Note to Editors:

Brand Finance is the world’s leading Brand Valuation agency with offices in over 15 countries worldwide.

Contact:

For further information please contact Robert Haigh, Communications Manager, Bryn Anderson, Valuation Director or David Haigh, CEO.

r.haigh@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7762211267

b.anderson@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7894541442

d.haigh@brandfinance.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 73899400
Mob: +44 (0)7885153725

Appendix – Christmas Trivia

• The name ‘Santa Claus’ is ultimately derived from Saint Nicholas via the Dutch name Sinterklaas.
• Nikolaos of Myra, who would go on to become saint Nicholas, was a Greek born in 270 in Patara in modern day south west Turkey.
• His feast day is December 6^th, the day he died in 343 AD.
• His association with gift-giving, and therefore perhaps the ultimate cause of the commercialisation of Christmas, stems from his reputation for secreting giving out gold coins.
• He is said to have frequently left the coins in people’s shoes and stockings, hence the tradition of the Christmas stocking,
• In the most famous example of his generosity, he threw three purses full of gold through the window of a poor man who couldn’t provide dowries for his three daughters.
• Some versions of the tale have him throwing the purses down the chimney, possibly the origin of the idea that Santa brings our presents down the chimney.
• He is the patron saint of bankers, pawnbrokers, thieves, pirates, sailors, children, archers and New York City.
• Though Santa Claus is thought to live in Lapland, St Nicholas’ remains are buried in the Italian cities of Bari and Venice.
• There is no consensus on why Christmas falls on the 25^th of December. One idea is that the Annunciation (commemorating the moment Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to her special baby) is on March 25^th, i.e. nine months before December 25^th.
• Christmas was banned by Oliver Cromwell in England & Wales from 1649-1660 and by American Puritans from 1659-1681.
• The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany.
• British illustrator John Callcott Horsley created the first Christmas card in 1843.
• When visiting Finland, Santa leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko.
• You can follow Santa’s journey on Christmas Eve using NORAD Santa tracker website.
• Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all retail sales.
• 328 million apps were downloaded on Christmas day 2012.
• ‘White Christmas’ by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.
• Nearly 3000 tons of aluminium foil will be used to wrap Christmas turkeys this year.
• 4,000,000 tons of rubbish is generated annually from gift wrapping and shopping bags at Christmas.
• 1.5 million new items for sale were listed on eBay Boxing Day 2011.
• World population – 7.2 billion
• Christian population – 2.2 billion
• Mince pies eaten / year – 250 million
• Christmas trees displayed / year – 500 million
• Baubles used / year – 10 billion
• Santa’s many pseudonyms include:

Kanakaloka – Hawaii
Ông già Noel – Vietnam
Siôn Corn – Wales
Jultomten - Sweden
Naththal Seeya – Sri Lanka
Dedo Mraz – Macedonia
Tonton Nwèl – Haiti
Djed Božičnjak – Croatia
Viejito Pascuero – Chile
Gaghant Baba - Armenia