Holiday Greetings That Stand Out

In December, our center-of-the-U.S.-based agency bustles like the North Pole. Designers and writers wrapping up last-minute ecards. Production staff overseeing 3-D mailers coming off the press. Account executives making lists and checking them twice.

You, no doubt, have already begun receiving holiday wishes in every conceivable form. As they cross your desk – or computer – or smartphone, think about those that cause you to pause. That warrant a bit more of your attention. What makes you choose those you display, forward to others, share on Facebook, slip into your briefcase to take home – or toss into the trash?

Forbes Insights reports that when advertising manages to capture our attention, 67% of the time, humor is the spark. Good design follows close behind at 50%. Being thought provoking grabs 33%. If it strikes an emotional cord, that gets another 19%. All these prompts have something in common; they engage us. By making us laugh, think, feel.

In our two+ decades of holiday giving and getting, we’ve always viewed this season as about people not presents. Our tradition is to make a substantive donation on clients’ behalf and then send a gift that serves as a symbol of the contribution. Through the years, that’s led to everything from foot-long sparklers (that clients said they lit on New Year’s Eve 1999) to an interactive website where clients tapped into free wellness resources. Campaigns seek to inspire people to Light the Night, Feed the Need, Mold a Mind, Spark a Star, Build a Bird, and more. Contributions have assisted the arts and animals, the homeless and hungry, kids and seniors.

Gift of Lift

This year’s recipient of Greteman Group’s giving: Aviation Green, a Lindbergh Foundation initiative. By raising awareness of earth-friendly technological advances, we hope to inspire even more. Our holiday wish for all – a vibrant, vital earth in balance. A world where expanded thinking shrinks challenges. Where the best and brightest elevate us all. Rising up with new ideas. Seeking and seeing possibilities that draw us ever forward.

Mailboxes around the world have been receiving enticing three-dimensional mailers that contain everything needed to create a flying machine – wings, stabilizers, fuselages, propellers, engines. Recipients can create a modest bird or something magical. Aviation inspires the graphical elements – flight charts, runway directional signage, even 1960s-era Pucci-designed stewardess uniforms. While only clients and friends of the agency receive the mailer, anyone can view and rank the creations on our online gallery.

Messages That Move You

Signature Flight Support’s playful, jingly animated holiday greetings will have you dancing as you watch. Simple, stylized graphics in Signature’s newly expanded color palette can be seen out an aircraft passenger window, creating a sense of movement and global range as you watch iconic airports pass by. They represent the five continents with Signature locations. And places you really, really want to be. Pack your sleigh and head out. The world’s calling and Signature’s your perfect portal.

Shake It Up

Bombardier Business Aircraft goes classic with a snow-globe, trifold card. The three-dimensional mailer opens to reveal Bombardier’s joy-inspiring family of aircraft. Each section holds a suspended aircraft representing the Global, Challenger and Learjet brands. Its freestanding nature invites you to display the greeting prominently. We’re betting recipients do. Wouldn’t you?

Peace and Joy

Take a moment to assess the season’s greetings you receive. To consider which ecards you share with friends. Which mailers you tuck away to read again. Memorable holiday greetings incorporate a bit of ourselves, serving as windows into who we are. Illustrating what propels us. And spurs us to seize the gifts of the day.

*This article originally appeared in the December 20 issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.