Santa On A Summer Holiday: A Fun Photography Campaign for Westwood Cross

The Commercial Challenge
Westwood Cross needed to promote its Santa's Grotto tickets going on sale at the end of August, generate early bird bookings, and build awareness that Santa would be returning for the winter season. The challenge was timing. Christmas messaging in August is a hard sell, so it needed a concept that could make festive content feel fun rather than premature.

Our Strategic Approach
The concept, Santa on his summer holiday, was actually brought to us by the Santa and elf actors themselves, who return to the role every year and clearly know what works. We built the shoot around it. Santa and his head elf spent the day being "caught" around the centre like paparazzi subjects, bowling at Hollywood Bowl, browsing Waterstones, shopping in Clintons, playing up the joke that even Santa needs a break before the season starts.

We were booked just three days before the shoot, so most of the planning happened at speed, locking locations, timings and permissions in the space of a few days rather than the usual lead time.

The Deliverables
Over 100 final images from a single half-day shoot
Coverage across multiple locations including Hollywood Bowl, Clintons, Waterstones and the shopping centre's main walkway
Additional standalone photography of key Westwood Cross facilities, including the cinema, the casino and Rituals
Full public consent management for a shoot in an occupied, family-filled public space

The Production Reality
This was a team of two, a primary photographer and an assistant who also handled consent forms throughout the day, since the shoot took place in a live public space with members of the public, including children, appearing in shot. Beyond the Santa concept, Westwood Cross also asked us to capture a handful of their other facilities separately, giving them additional standalone assets to promote the wider centre alongside the grotto campaign.

The concept worked on the day as well as on paper. Genuine shoppers stopped to watch, asked what was going on, and took their own photos with Santa mid-shoot, giving the whole thing a layer of organic buzz nobody had planned for.

The Commercial Outcome
The images were picked up well beyond social media. Westwood Cross used them across their own channels, where they performed well with strong engagement, but they were also picked up by local press, magazines and directories promoting the grotto's return, giving the campaign reach far past a single social post.

Client Verdict
"Thanks Sam, and thanks Dom! The photos look fab. Thanks again for all your help, especially at such short notice."
Leanne, Umpf