NORTH POLE – Kris Kringle and his team of elves hired AXIA to help locate Rudolph, the popular red-nosed reindeer who heads the Christmas season lineup. Rudolph went missing shortly after Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009. Through strategic planning and on-target tactics, AXIA was able to track him down.
This isn’t the first time that these North Pole residents have engaged AXIA. AXIA worked closely with Kringle after a Santa’s Workshop elf leaked material information about special gifts that were to be given to children. AXIA uses its CrisisPoint crisis management service to keep clients out of the spotlight or get them in front of an issue.
This year, AXIA worked diligently to save Christmas by helping find Rudolph. Rudolph, the most beloved reindeer, went missing around 8:45 p.m. after Thanksgiving dinner. Santa, his elves and all of the other reindeer, including Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, believed that Rudolph had gone outside to shake his antlers after a stuffing meal. But one of the elves discovered that was not the case after going outside to look for Rudolph. Santa and his crew immediately enlisted the help of AXIA, their most trusted PR and marketing partners.
AXIA efficiently responded to the situation and worked double time to get the job done. AXIA first used its Social NetWork service to send information via social media channels. AXIA created the Facebook group, “Help find our Favorite Reindeer, Rudolph!” The group drew 80 million members in the first 24 hours. AXIA also created a Twitter page dedicated to Rudolph’s disappearance and posted updates every 30 minutes. Some of the comments left by Rudolph fans read, “Please return home safely, Rudolph!” “We love you, Rudolph, and we hope that you are OK!” “Rudolph, you are our favorite reindeer and we can’t have Christmas without you!” People all over the world began logging on to their favorite social media sites to read and post updates about the search for Rudolph.
Secondly, AXIA employed its NewsBureau media relations service for information sharing. AXIA sent news releases and video news releases to every news outlet in the world. The story quickly became breaking news on CNN, BBC, FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and every local station in between. These networks saw the highest ratings since the death of Michael Jackson.
Instead of listening to holiday songs on the radio, people tuned in to hear Rudolph announcements. Instead of going online to browse the Web or do holiday shopping, people were exclusively reading Rudolph updates.
AXIA contacted officials at the North Pole Police Department and suggested they hold an emergency news conference. The news conference updated people about how the Rudolph search was going and called for volunteers to participate in a worldwide search. Millions of people joined the search, including anxious children who took off from school to help find Rudolph.
Just as the news conference was beginning, one-hundred miles away, on the opposite end of the North Pole, Rudolph and his newfound sweetheart, Rudy, sat down to check Twitter and watch TV. To their surprise, they turned on the TV to find Santa speaking at the NPPD news conference, exclaiming that Rudolph still had not been found. Rudolph checked his Facebook account and discovered his image was on every page and his inbox was flooded with concerned messages. Rudolph immediately called Santa. Santa’s phone rang out in the middle of the world-televised news conference. Santa answered his phone in front of the entire world. “Rudolph!” Santa yelled in delight. “Is it really you?” People around the entire world cheered and hugged. Their favorite and only red-nosed reindeer had been found.
It turns out that Rudolph had met Rudy and fallen madly in love. So in love that they ran off together and didn’t have contact with anyone for weeks. Rudolph went back to Santa’s workshop where he was greeted by thousands of children, elves, reindeer and of course, Santa. All of Santa’s helpers, including the reindeer, were able to perform their duties as scheduled, ensuring a happy Christmas for all the children of the world. Looks like AXIA, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based PR and marketing firm, did it again – only this time, they saved Christmas!
