Looking for examples of interactive content for brands? Or festive content that creatively promotes logistics and call center management? Say hello to Santa Tracker 2023.
This article explores Google’s approach to interactive content experiences compared to the official NORAD Santa Tracker 2023 powered by Microsoft, Bing, Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Zillow.
Google’s unofficial Santa Tracker 2023
While not the official 2023 Santa tracker, Google’s interactive content experience adds seasonal cheer to an educational experience.
It also features an attractive design similar to the new Labs.Google look for AI experiments.
Google screenshot, December 2023
Opinion: This Santa Tracker has the best graphics.
Teaching coding skills for a future in technical SEO
Santa’s Village, the main interface of the Tracker, is filled with various characters and offers suitable activities All ages.
Coding games like “Code Lab” and “Code Boogie” merge fun with learning, allowing users to navigate an elf through a forest and choreograph elf dances using coding fundamentals, which can come in handy for technical SEO.
Understanding cultural diversity in content marketing
Google’s Santa Tracker website includes a section on global holiday traditions, a vital lesson for marketers and advertisers in understanding and appreciating cultural differences.
Holiday quizzes and games highlight the importance of cultural sensitivity while teaching all ages about various cultural celebrations.
Content creators must conduct thorough research into cultural nuances to resonate with diverse consumers who value inclusion.
Proving the value of Google Translate
One of the features highlights the power and simplicity of Google’s translation services. Visitors can select different languages to view and hear holiday greetings from around the world.
Santa Tracker screenshot, December 2023
Use of content creation tools
For creative expression, Santa’s Village features activities that involve drawing, painting and building, encouraging users of all ages to try content creation tools.
Ultimately, it could inspire future generations of artists, some of whom will create amazing assets for ad campaigns.
Helping all ages harness the power of search
Google Assistant integration is a notable feature, offering a variety of interactive experiences.
Users can receive daily updates from the North Pole, hear Santa jokes, or even help Santa with his musical concert rehearsals.
This feature is accessible to children under 13 with parental permission and is managed through Family Link, demonstrating Google’s commitment to safe and age-appropriate content.
In addition, Google encourages exploration of other Google products, offering tips and tricks to improve voice search experiences.
It will be interesting to try this experience next year once I am Assistant with Bard available.
Exploring the code behind interactive content
For those who want to learn even more about creating interactive content experiences, you’ll want to visit Github. There you will find the recently updated one repository for the Santa Tracker web site source code.
The official NORAD Santa Tracker for 2023
This year, NORAD is not alone in the effort to land one of the biggest figures of the holiday season.
Santa Tracker 2023 screenshot, December 2023
Link building with sponsorship opportunities
More than 40 brands and organizations partnered with NORAD to track Santa’s location online.
The press room page on the Santa Tracker website includes links to more than 40 sponsors of this year’s interactive content.
Santa Tracker screenshot, December 2023
Best practices for internal and external linking
Adding an educational and interactive touch to the website, the Santa Tracker website features clickable icons at each of Santa’s stops.
“Stops” along Santa’s journey take visitors to an e-commerce store for holiday gifts, a page to learn more about NORAD, interactive books, games, music and a YouTube movie.
In addition, links to Santa Tracker’s social media profiles appear at the top of the website.
This demonstrates the importance of properly placed links in any content experience to ensure visitors stay on a website longer, learn more about the brand and have the opportunity to convert to a sale.
Improved location tracking with 3D Maps and Bing
NORAD partners with Cesium, a development platform for creating 3D web mapping applications. Through this partnership, they have developed a 3D tracker that vividly shows Santa’s current location.
This innovative application uses satellite imagery from Bing Maps, providing a realistic texture to the 3D globe rendered through the CesiumJS library. This immersive experience allows users to follow Santa’s journey in a visually captivating way.
The 2D version, powered by Bing Maps API, maintains an intuitive and easy-to-use interface. It features a pin that marks Santa’s real-time location, making it easy for users to track his progress.
Ensure fast load times for interactive content
The North Pole experience on the Santa Tracker website has seen significant changes this year, courtesy of the developer elves who have launched a new JavaScript-based site. This update supports nine different languages and is hosted in six Azure regions worldwide, improving accessibility and user experience.
The new site leverages Azure static web applications built with Angular, among other frameworks, to speed up file delivery and reduce resource consumption, making the site more efficient and responsive.
In addition, Azure Front Door, Microsoft’s cloud CDN, caches the site in 192 point-of-presence (POP) locations in major cities around the world. This wide distribution significantly improves the speed of file delivery, making the user experience smoother and more reliable.
Helping everyone stay on task
Azure DevOps (ADO) was used for project and software lifecycle management on the NORAD Santa Tracker.
It provides a complete set of services and tools for managing software projects, from planning and development to testing and deployment.
Exploring holiday traditions around the world
Similar to Google’s holiday website, the NORAD Santa Tracker offers an interactive map to learn about holiday traditions around the world and discover the multi-language support and settings offered by Azure Maps.
Santa Tracker screenshot, December 2023
This further emphasizes the importance of understanding multiple perspectives, especially for brands with global audiences.
Demonstration of creativity in content marketing
This year, NORAD will work with Amazon Connect to provide live tracking of Santa’s route.
With a toll-free number for live updates as Santa makes his biggest deliveries of the year, NORAD expects 150,000 calls about Santa’s current location.
Using Amazon Connect, a cloud-based contact service, a team of 1,250 US and Canadian uniformed personnel and civilian volunteers from the Department of Defense will be on hand to ease the concerns of the excited public.
Amazon will also play a crucial role in bringing joy to customers around the world, including the iconic residents of North Pole, Alaska: Santa and Mrs. Keys.
This process begins as soon as an order is placed, with Amazon’s fulfillment centers quickly packing the items. Those packages then travel to an Amazon Air gateway in Portland, Oregon, before taking a four-hour flight to Fairbanks, Alaska.
Amazon Air, using a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, efficiently transports thousands of packages, including those destined for Santa Claus House, withstanding all kinds of weather challenges.
Once in Fairbanks, packages undergo meticulous sorting based on zip codes in a logistics warehouse. After sorting, packages are loaded onto box trucks and shipped for final delivery in central and northern Alaska courtesy of outside partners.
This extensive network ensures that even the most remote locations, such as Prudhoe Bay and Santa Claus House at the North Pole, receive their deliveries.
Posts shared by Amazon also serve as firsts examples of how to creatively describe the company services through content marketing.
Zillow features an AI-powered listing showcase
Real estate sellers can take inspiration from Zillow’s listing for Santa’s home at the North Pole.
Screenshot from Zillow, December 2023
The page features an AI-powered Listing Showcase, an exclusive offering on Zillow that features immersive media alongside a fresh design. Provides more in-depth information about property layout and attributes.
Screenshot from Zillow, December 2023
A Chatbot not powered by OpenAI
Although NORAD partnered with Microsoft and Azure, it doesn’t appear that the official Santa Tracker website uses OpenAI technology for its Radar chatbot. It seems to pull from a KB rather than being an AI chatbot.
Santa Tracker screenshot, December 2023
Lessons in Holiday Marketing
The top websites tracking Santa’s package deliveries in 2023 offer several important lessons for marketers about creative storytelling and the technology that goes into creating interactive content.
Each interactive experience combines tradition with modern technology, offering a unique way to educate audiences and promote specific products.
Marketers and advertisers should use these examples as inspiration to integrate similar interactive content and create narratives in campaigns to effectively engage audiences during the holidays.
Featured Image: nikkimeel/Shutterstock
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