The Content Engine – from Kim Funk Creative

Transform your content with Christmas Spirit

The Christmas spirit is abundant here at The Content Engine – much to my kids’ dismay. They keep asking me, “why, WHY? are you listening to Christmas music AGAIN?!?” Not gonna lie, 2024 has been a tough year – but it’s almost over. Plus there’s nothing like the Christmas season to make you feel cheerful.

And I’m a firm believer that Christmas cheer can carry over into your marketing or personal branding strategy. Who doesn’t want to be a “Jolly Old Elf?” Well, Ebenezer Scrooge before the ghosts visted him, maybe. After that, he was a VERY jolly old elf. Imagine his new marketing strategy.

Of course, I’m still watching all the Christmas movies, but things have slowed a bit. Kids are back in school and hockey is in full swing – so it’s hard to find the time. Here are a few I caught in the past couple of weeks. (One features Gretchen from Mean Girls).

Hot Frosty. A classic love story. A young widow buries herself in work to avoid love and loss. But secretly dreams of what could be. After closing her cafe one night, she admires a snow sculpture remenicent of Michelangelo’s David and imagines him as her true love. He is very hot. Smitten, she wraps her scarf around him.. Must be a magic scarf because he turns into a real human. And he is hot and played by the same actor who played Ted the veterinarian on Schitt’s Creek. 

Like the Knight Before Christmas discussed in my last blog, this movie follows a similar storyline – girl falls in love with an impossible character, in this case, a snowman come to life, almost loses him (to melting, who would have guessed) but then a miracle happens and he becomes a real human.

Also featuring Craig Robinson as the sheriff who is dead set on arresting Hot Frosty for streaking and breaking and entering. I mean, how else was the snowman supposed to find clothes?

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Let it Snow. Imagine – a giant snowstorm and a party at The Waffle House. Let it Snow follows three storylines and seven characters through a snowy Christmas eve in a small Ohio town. This party has all the usual suspects.

An honor student who’s decided to give up her dreams of college at Columbia to take care of her mom who is dying of cancer.

A major snowstorm forces three friends to change their party venue at the last minute.

An young man who’s in love with his best friend decided he’s ready to tell her – but is she already in love with someone else?

Two friends find themselves growing apart when one puts her boyfriend before their friendship.

Narrated by Joan Cusak – who plays a tinfoil hat wearing tow truck driver, and featuring a Christmas Pageant that honors ALL winter holidays, Let it Snow is the Christmas Party Movie you won’t want to end.

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The Grinch (Jim Carrey verson) – I don’t know why redemption stories are so popular at Christmas, but they are. The Grinch has been a Dr. Seuss classic since the first animation came out in 1966. And we love this story of how love helped a broken stranger become whole.

The Jim Carrey version gives us a good backstory – one of a boy who was bullied because of his differences. The bullying was so bad, he became a recluse and denounced everything that could bring him happiness. He assumed he would never be accepted by the Whos of Whoville and stayed far out of their way – unless he felt like making their lives worse. Then he’d visit the village and make their lives worse.

Cindy Lou Who is clearly more than two in this version. She’s struggling to find the true meaning of Christmas. Once she realizes this, she goes on a crusade to convince the rest of the Whos. 

This version of The Grinch is my favorite – from Jim Carrey’s over-the-top acting, to the outlandish sets, to the exquisite costumes. The Grinch doesn’t miss a single detail. 

Makes your heart grow three sizes.

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Each of these stories presents a storytelling format you can use in your marketing campaigns.

Spin a romance to demonstrate how your product will lighten your customers’ load and enrich their lives.

If you’re a consulting firms, restaurants, hotels and resorts can spin the party story in Let it Snow to demonstrate agile thinking (there’s a lot of change in this story) can lead to great results. Or to simply show how much fun people can have when they come together at your establishment.

And just about any business can use a good redemption story. Your customer is in a pickle. Maybe sales are down. Maybe their house is falling apart. Maybe they feel like they’re terrible at everything. But your product or service is the golden ticket to turning things around. You can even show how your product or service makes them a better person.

Putting your product or service in these types of storytelling scenarios can be challenging, though. That’s where the creative team at Kim Funk Creative can help. We’ll listen to your problem, research your audience and come up stories that hook them and keep them engaged throughout their buying journey. 

Let’s start telling your story – before someone else does.