Behind The Scenes

Hi, my name is Elfie. I’m the Chief Elferating Officer (CEO) at Carbon. I bring gifts, joy, and cheerful announcements to the Carbon Crew and their clients throughout the year, which is a good break from the daily grind of the toy workshop. My Spotify Wrapped top song was Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” …played 5,500 times this year. All I really want are smaller ears and some earplugs. If you’re too busy doing last minute shopping and looking for the TLDR version, here it is, and don’t forget to leave cookies:

1. Seeing must be believing
2. If Santa can make you feel, he must be real.
3. If there is relevance, it can’t be by chance.

Anyhoo, every year this time of year two things are certain to happen. One, people around the globe will question if my boss is real, and two, I will get overserved at the company holiday party and get a talking to from the big man himself, which inherently proves number one. But since you weren’t there to see me do the Grinch Griddy on the dance floor, or karaoke the dirty version of Jingle Bells, let me help answer this question once and all for the rest of you, especially the non-believers.

How am I qualified to answer this question you ask? You probably didn’t know that I majored in Toy Making with a minor in Marketing, so I know my way around a wood router as much as I do Google Analytics, which comes in handy in forecasting how many of each toy to make based on search volume every year. What the fluff is a What the Fluff? I didn’t know either, but then I saw search volume exploding this year. If you are on Santa’s lap asking for this one make sure you enunciate! GA also tells me that there have been over 1 million searches for “Is Santa Real?” this year. The big man likes to walk around the workshop talking about quotas and yelling things like, “PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN! COOKIES ARE FOR CLOSERS!” so I know he’s real. But, let me break it down in more pragmatic terms for you, for goodness sake.

I posit that Santa is just as real as Apple, Nike, and Coke. I don’t get to use big words like ‘posit’ around here, so cut me some slack while I drop some effin elfin knowledge. Do you question that Apple, Nike, and Coke are real? While they all make tangible products you can hold in your hands, have you ever SEEN or TALKED to Apple, Nike, or Coke? I haven’t, but I’m just as aware of Santa Claus as I am of these brands, who all have over 90% brand awareness in the US. While Santa doesn’t need pre-post studies to confirm his cheeks are rosy, his brand is stronger than all three, and he lives in our minds as much as they do. Clearly, if Santa lives in our minds, and we can see him, he must be real. In fact, each of these brands has featured Santa in some of the best ads of all time, so seeing must be believing: Apple, Nike, and Coke. I don’t know about you, but it just got really dusty in here, which leads me to my next point.

I think even more than seeing, feeling is believing. I can still remember the amazement of my first iPhone and the iBeer app, where I could make it look like I was drinking Elf Nog on my phone. Or, the way I felt when I crossed the finish line of the Jingle Belfathon 1k in my fly-as-figgy-pudding Flyknit Nikes. No one will ever forget the year Rudolph mistakenly drank Coke instead of Reindeerade and overshot every landing by at least one rooftop. Do you have any memories that come to mind when you think of Santa? Coming down the stairs on Christmas Morning to find toys under the tree? Staring in awe as you sat on Santa’s lap sharing your wish list? Singing your favorite holiday songs? Taking a ride on the Polar Express? Do these memories make you feel anything? Nostalgic, happy, or longing for the days of yore? If the glove don’t fit, wait, I mean to say that, if Santa can make you feel, he must be real.

If you don’t believe me, let’s check with some other sources who have more authority than an elf who usually just checks NICE for every kid, without really looking. Let’s start with an executive branch of the U.S. Government. The United States Postal Office, the pre-eminent authority on mail, recognizes Santa as being real. How do I know this? Have you ever tried to mail a letter to Santa at the North Pole with proper postage? Did it get returned? Of course it didn’t, and there are over 30,000 letters a day to Santa this time of year! Don’t believe me, just give it a shot. Hat tip to one of the greatest holiday movies of all time, “Miracle on 34^th Street” for the inspiration here…I believe, I believe, it’s silly but I believe. Let’s also check with Google, who is the authority on, well…search authority. If you search, “Is Santa real?” the very top piece of content on their global algorithm spits out this line: “According to historical records, Santa is real.” Google also operates the Santa Tracker every year, and I’m guessing you aren’t using Internet Explorer, so the leading company in defining search relevance on and directing you to the best content in the world agrees, which brings to my third and final point. If there is relevance, it can’t be by chance.

I know some day my kids will ask me the question. And I’ll show them this blog post. Yes, Grace and Chloe, Santa is real. He’s as real as he was when I was a kid years ago. He’s as real as he is today, making memories for us each year in our version of Christmas Town. He’s as real as he will be years from now when maybe you have kids of your own, and they have kids of their own, and he will still be putting toys under trees and spreading joy across the world. Christmas magic does exist, and if Santa lives in your heart and your mind, he will always be real.

We’re proud to announce that Carbon is one of the very first Meta Certified agencies! In June 2022, Meta introduced a pilot certification program within the U.S. for their most trusted partners. Due to our historic performance, Carbon was one of the first digital agencies to gain access to this opportunity. 

In October 2022, Carbon earned a Media Meta Certification at the company level, meaning our business is recognized by Meta as having proven digital expertise through verified certifications. The Meta Certification requires a percentage of eligible employees to have studied and demonstrated success and detailed knowledge on Meta technologies.   

“We are honored to accept this exclusive recognition, which has only been possible because of the dedication that our social team has to our clients. Working directly with Meta and other social platforms, we are always excited to try out new tools and features and are excited about the future of social media advertising.” – Chris Rio, Social Media Supervisor  

Aside from our sparkly new trophy, what does this mean for Carbon? Certified companies are proven to demonstrate increased knowledge, build effective campaigns, and deliver high quality work. We offer our new and existing clients a higher caliber of expertise. Through a joint study with Kantar, Facebook found that: 

• 79% of employers of certified employees say they produce higher quality work and make agencies more credible and innovative. 
• 87% of certified individuals experienced improved knowledge. 
• 53% of certified individuals experienced increased work efficiency.

We are honored to receive this accolade and look forward to transforming your business with this proficiency. Learn more about our approach to performance based social marketing at www.explorecarbon.com.