Holiday client gifts
An annual highlight of my time at Monigle: putting my head together with other creatives to come up with an appropriately epic client gift for the end of the year.
WHAT I DID
No-holds-barred ideation
Copywriting
A bit of singing (no, really)
year one: the monigle BRAND ORACLE
Mid-brainstorm, I posed a question: “What if there was a Magic 8-Ball for branding?”
Despite its potential to make us all obsolete, we dubbed it the Brand Oracle and set about creating answers ranging from “Make the logo bigger” to “Indubitably”. I also wrote an accompanying set of tarot-inspired cards. The first contained instructions for how to awaken the Oracle (with a hearty shake) and a sampling of the burning questions they might need answered: “Does our logo need a refresh? Should I cut bangs?” The second wished them an extremely fortunate year, with room for the client’s project team to add their own holiday greetings.
I’ve no doubt these orange orbs were invaluable—or, failing that, at least mildly amusing—to our clients. They haven’t resulted in any reduction in calls to us with branding questions, however… I’ll have to inquire with the Oracle about that.
Year two: “10 months of work from home” (parody song)
Things were a little different this year. We still wanted to create a special holiday experience for our clients, but it needed to be digital and mindful of the ongoing rupture to our reality… while not totally bumming everyone out even more.
So I wrote a tune for these strange times, taking liberties with the thankfully-public-use “12 Days of Christmas”, and cast countless colleagues in 5-second moments of fame. At the end, we had an imperfectly charming little ditty that brightened client inboxes across the nation. The lyrics are below, but if you want to see one of our executives pour coffee on his face, you should probably watch the video.
(Ready to sing along?)
It’s been ten months of work-from-home
And we are proud to say
We’re doing mostly OK
It’s been ten months of work-from-home
And time’s lost all meaning
Days blend together
We miss our clients
And office banter
Dang, I even kinda miss commuting...
It’s been ten years of work-from-home
At least that’s how it seems...
"Man, I miss the office.”
"Hey, you’re on mute...”
"You go ahead!”
“What’s that behind you?”
"Can you see my screen?!”
“What day even is it?”
“Did you get a haircut?”
“Oops, there’s an echo...”
"Please be quiet, I’m on a call!”
I don’t remember work-from-work...
Now my days are just...
Twelve frozen faces
Eleven furry bosses
Ten mini dance breaks
Nine laptop crashes
Eight minutes over
Seven wishful backgrounds
Six snacks an hour
Five brands launching
Four new coworkers
Three dead desk plants
Too much caffeine
And some technical difficultieeeees
From our homes to yours, happy holidays.
