Archive for the ‘Toys’ Category
The Differentiated Christmas Letter to Santa
When I was a child, there was a tradition of sending a letter to Santa Claus with a list of the toys that we would like to receive under our tree on Christmas morning. If we were thoughtful about it, we might also include a brief justification or apology for any behavioural lapses that might have landed our names on the naughty list. We would dutifully fold up our letters and mail them off addressed to Santa Claus, The North Pole. Today, things have changed.
Santa Claus, of course, being the sort to quickly adopt the latest conveniences, be they magical or technical in nature, is surely connected to the internet. Therefore, rather than relying on conventional snail mail, modern children are better served to differentiate themselves from the crowd and drop the Jolly Old Fellow a quick email. Of course, the email will be much more legible, and the elderly Mr. Claus will not have to strain his eyes to make out the child’s name. Furthermore, he will easily be able to hit the reply button should he need any clarification about the list, or about the child’s naughty or nice status.
As any future business leader knows if you are sending a request, there are several key ingredients that make the recipient more likely to act upon the request. Provide the necessary resources to accomplish the task, provide an incentive, provide alternative solutions, and always maintain good communication.
Provide the Right Resources
The savvy list sender will include links to the specific toys that are being requested to remove any confusion. It will be quite convenient to provide Mr. Claus with links to a single site where he might find the overwhelming majority of toys requested by children from all over the UK, excepting, of course, the occasionally, but perennially requested "a real, live pony." Choosetoys.co.uk is just such a site with links to many major retailers.
Choosetoys.co.uk has the most recent list of the British Toy & Hobby Association’s most popular toys of 2008, which will surely be helpful to the red-suited old man. As a further aid, on the site’s main page is a menu listing more than 60 brands of toys from Narnia to Nintendo Wii, and from Scooby Doo to Sony Playstation. If a visitor doesn’t know the brand, they can choose from the categories tabs, or simply enter the name of the toy in the handy search panel.
A Little Financial Incentive and an Alternative Solution
Once the desired toy is located, one need only click through to the retailer’s web site and make the purchase. While one has no doubts about the production capacity of the North Pole toy factories, it is certainly wise to make provisions for a second source, should the elves’ labor contract remain during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Between the elves and the retail websites linked from choosetoys.co.uk, Santa Claus will certainly have enough supply options to meet the demand. The handy discount codes provided by Choosetoys.co.uk may also provide a bit of additional leverage when discussing cost of living increases in the elves’ collective bargaining agreement.
Follow the Proper Communication Protocols
Of course, as with any email or web communications, all children should cc the list to their parents. As the parents will know which toys Santa Claus is most likely to bring, the list and the links will no doubt help them to plan and execute their own Christmas shopping as well. A well executed e-list is virtually guaranteed to bring results, so long as one can adequately explain away any naughty behaviours from the previous year.