Welcome to the North Pole in One Click: Santa's Gone Virtual on Santa.com

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

As COVID-19 forced families indoors last year during the holidays, there’s no doubt that children noticed boxes being delivered weekly to their homes.

Had Santa come early and switched from the chimney to the Amazon.com Inc. AMZN truck?

It’s a different world nowadays, but Russell Hicks, chief creative officer of GROM Social Enterprises Inc. GROM, didn’t want the magic of Christmas being lost on this new generation. As president and chief creative officer of Curiosity Media, recently acquired by GROM, Hicks’s brainchild became a virtual North Pole experience with a special section for kids on Santa.com, which launched December 6.

It features all of the wonders and awes of the magical North Pole everyone knows and loves, but with a modern twist: flying drones, Santa’s workshop and interactive characters available at the click of a button. All kids need to do is enter their parent’s email to join, and they can play in the make-believe world.

Features like boxing videos — a playful take on the popular “unboxing” trend of YouTube videos — let kids watch gifts being wrapped by Santa’s elves and being shipped off for Christmas, a countdown to Christmas calendar with a fun new content reveal every day as well as holiday e-cards ready to be customized and delivered.

Essentially, this site is an immersive experience — not just a landmark of the North Pole but a place where kids can interact with characters and explore the landscape. There’s Mrs. Claus’s cookie factory, Yetis, and Yoyo — the main elf character. He comes from a line of elves who worked for Santa, and he’s the host of the North Pole. His friend is Biscuit, a baby reindeer who is learning to fly in Reindeer’s flight school. In addition, there’s Coco the human resources elf, showing you how everything works.

There’s fun for grownups on Santa.com, too, that helps to alleviate holiday stress and offers ideas for gift giving, hosting and entertaining as the holidays inch closer and closer.

The company has laid the groundwork this year to introduce e-commerce in the coming months where popular goods from leading retailers are offered alongside products similar to Etsy Inc. ETSY — and handpicked goods will be available in build-your-own Christmas wish lists as well as original Santa.com-owned merchandise through product lines like the company’s own North Pole University and as customized cookie tins and gingerbread house kits, products that ultimately would make the holidays easier. 

Throughout the year, the team will expand on the North Pole world, adding videos, virtual visits with Santa and games on top of all of the other features. In addition,it will offer Christmas Lists where kids can select what they want and send it to Santa — their parent’s email, functioning almost like a gift registry. A Christmas classic animated feature is in development that captures the holiday spirit like  fan favorites “Elf,” “Home Alone” and will be a coveted favorite viewing tradition for years to come.

This free, fun place to be entertained is intended to be a 365-day, year-round idea — not just for the holiday season itself. This North Pole can take the pressure off parents while kids enter this curated world, developing their anticipation for Christmas as the days get closer.

Much like many things in today’s world, Santa has gone virtual. But that doesn’t mean the season has lost its tangible excitement. In fact, Hicks says he hopes that this space will reignite the true meaning of Christmas: kindness, generosity and a little bit of magic.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.