Someone has sent you a Christmas gift. You don't know what's inside. You don't even know who sent it. There's only one thing to do - open it.
Secret Santa is an interactive festive campaign built around mystery, giving and human connection.
Customers choose someone they want to surprise, select a mystery digital gift and send it anonymously with a Christmas message.
The recipient enters the experience, tries to guess their Secret Santa and finally unwraps the present to discover both the surprise and who sent it.
But that’s not where it ends.
They’re invited to become the next Secret Santa and surprise someone else.
How It Works
Enter → Choose → Send → Receive → Guess → Open → Reveal → Return the Gift
01 – Enter
Enter your details and become a Secret Santa.
02 – Choose
Choose someone you want to surprise and select a mystery gift.
03 – Send
Add an anonymous Christmas message and secretly send the gift.
04 – Receive
The recipient discovers that someone has sent them a Christmas surprise.
05 – Guess
Before opening it, they get a few chances to guess who their Secret Santa might be.
06 – Open
Unwrap the mystery present and discover what’s waiting inside.
07 – Reveal
Reveal the Christmas surprise and, where enabled, the identity of their Secret Santa.
08 – Return the Gift
Now it’s their turn to choose someone else and keep the Secret Santa chain going.
Who Sent It?
The mystery begins the moment the recipient receives:
You Have a Secret Santa
Someone has sent you a Christmas gift. But who?
Before they can discover what’s inside, give them a chance to guess.
John?
Not your Secret Santa. Try again.
Whether they guess correctly or not, the gift remains theirs to open. The guessing simply adds another layer of curiosity and anticipation before the reveal.
What's Inside?
That’s the second mystery.
Depending on the campaign, opening the present could reveal a voucher, product, discount, meal, festive experience, competition entry or another Christmas reward.
Participating brands can be introduced naturally at this moment.
Mystery Gift → Open → Surprise → Brand / Reward
Instead of surrounding the experience with advertising, the brand can become part of the surprise.
The Secret Santa Chain
The campaign doesn’t stop when somebody receives their gift.
After the reveal, they’re asked:
Now It's Your Turn
Someone surprised you this Christmas. Who will you surprise?
They select another person, send another mystery present and introduce someone new to the experience.
Give → Receive → Give → Receive → Give
One Secret Santa can lead to another, creating a growing chain of Christmas surprises.
Built to Keep Moving
Secret Santa has a natural invitation mechanic built into the experience.
A participant isn’t simply being asked to share a campaign link. They’re sending something directly to someone they know.
The recipient has a reason to open it:
Who sent this?
What’s inside?
And once they’ve discovered the answer, they have a reason to bring someone else into the campaign.
Send → Curiosity → Open → Reveal → Give Again
What Can Secret Santa Help You Achieve?
- Grow your customer database – Each new recipient can enter their details before joining the experience, with appropriate marketing consent.
- Generate referral participation – Existing participants introduce friends and family directly into the campaign.
- Promote products and offers – Mystery gifts can reveal client products, vouchers, discounts or campaign rewards.
- Showcase participating businesses – Retailers, restaurants and campaign partners can become part of the gift reveal.
- Encourage repeat participation – Receiving a gift creates an opportunity to become the next Secret Santa.
- Create meaningful engagement – Mystery, guessing, giving and revealing give customers more to experience than a conventional competition entry.
Watch the Christmas Chain Grow
Campaigns can optionally show the number of Secret Santa gifts genuinely sent during the activation.
For example:
2,847 Secret Santa Gifts Sent
As participation grows, customers can see the Christmas chain growing with them.
For shopping centres, brands or large festive activations, this can create a strong sense that customers are participating in something together.
Make It Your Own
Secret Santa can be adapted around the client’s audience, products and Christmas objectives.
A shopping centre could use vouchers from participating retailers. Restaurants could send meal or dessert rewards. FMCG brands could reveal products or offers, while hotels and resorts could introduce festive experiences.
The gifts, messages, guessing mechanic, number of sends and final rewards can all be customised.
You provide the surprises. Your customers keep them moving.