A Whimsical Quest

Creative marketers take children on a unique adventure with Seymour the Frog

Last Christmas, in a town called Scranton (Pennsylvania) on the east coast of the USA, a lovable character called Seymour the Frog went on a whimsical quest in search of Santa to learn just what was the greatest gift of all. His adventures were the focus of The Greatest Gift of All, a children’s book written by Arthur Levandoski, marketing director at The Mall at Steamtown, and illustrated by marketing assistant Amy Wheeler Zellers.
The story collaboration was a first for both and it enabled the shopping centre to live up to its Be Beautiful, Be Individual, Be Unique campaign tagline by offering children visiting Santa over the Christmas season a gift that they wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Working with local printer, Offset Paperback Manufacturers, a company that offered to print 15,000 copies of the book for free in return for a back-page acknowledgement (a value of £4,560 or ¤6,640), The Mall at Steamtown produced its book and sent young readers on Seymour’s trail within the local area—from Nay Aug Park to Lackwanna Avenue and, naturally, the shopping centre.
The Mall at Steamtown distributed the book for free to each child visiting Santa, and the first 200 wee ones to show up for Santa’s Magical Arrival event on 11th November also received an eight-inch Seymour the Frog plush—the 200 or so remaining frogs were sold at the centres guest services desk for £2.85 (¤4.15) each, with proceeds going to the Make A Wish Foundation.
The centre drove footfall to Santa’s grotto using press kits in the form of holiday gifts that were hand delivered to the local radio and television stations, as well as to newspapers. That personal touch paid off, prompting Froggy 101 radio to promote the book and the Seymour plush on its morning show, while both Levandoski and Wheeler Zellers were interviewed live on Oldies 92 radio station the night of Santa’s Magical Arrival. The Mall at Steamtown also advertised its seasonal giveaway in the Scranton Times on the evening of the event and on Rock 107 radio one week before—this was done using trade dollars the centre receives for hosting a remote broadcasting studio throughout the year.
"The reaction from the public has been phenomenal, as we heard the stories of children reading the storybook and carrying their Seymours all over town," Levandoski noted.
This may not be the last project of this kind for The Mall at Steamtown, whose new tagline is Where Families Shop.