Santa Claus: A Marketing Masterstroke

12 December 2025, by Anna Priebe

Photo: AdobeStock / Milles Studio

No matter if they are made of chocolate, felt, or wood—right now you see Santa Claus just about everywhere. Santa Claus originates from St. Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century Greek bishop in modern-day Turkey. But the modern Santa image only became famous in the last century. Prof. Dr. Henrik Sattler from the University of Hamburg Business School explains why Santa Claus inspires not only children but also marketing experts.

Is it true that Coca-Cola developed the figure of an old man with a white bushy beard for advertising purposes?

Coca-Cola didn’t invent Santa Claus, but it did make a major contribution to spreading the image of Santa Claus that is widely known today. And yes, all of this was developed for advertising. It began in 1931, and from that year on, illustrator Haddon Sundblom produced Santa Claus images for Coca-Cola every year. And to this day, Sundblom’s Santa Claus is the epitome of Christmas for millions of Americans—but also for people all over the world.

What makes Santa Claus so successful? Why does it work so well?

Santa Claus as the American Santa Claus has a history that dates back long before the Coca-Cola campaign. The typical red suit and white beard were already present in previous depictions. However, Coca-Cola succeeded in making Santa Claus known worldwide with all his positive emotional qualities. Friendly, mischievous, jovial, and completely trustworthy—and of course, a brand like Coca-Cola is happy to claim this for itself.

How do researchers view this marketing strategy today? Is it part of every marketing degree?

Coca-Cola’s Santa Claus image is certainly formative and an example of an extraordinarily successful marketing campaign. The success of campaigns like these are measured primarily by sales figures, but also by the general media response and social media presence. In this case, the company has been successful in directly linking this positively connotated image with the brand and a celebration for the whole family. The campaign is not necessarily a part of every marketing degree, but it does come up frequently.

How successful was or is the idea for Coca-Cola? Can this be expressed in figures?

Well, it’s difficult to measure because the campaign has been running for decades now. What’s more, the omnipresent figure of Santa Claus goes far beyond the drink and is no longer necessarily directly associated with Coca-Cola. From my point of view, Coca-Cola would be one of the strongest brands in the world even without its Christmas campaign, but the campaign was and still is a brilliant idea. In particular, since competitors like Pepsi can’t simply copy it either, so Santa Claus is a unique selling point for Coca-Cola.

Are there examples with a comparable impact?

The Coca-Cola campaign is one of the most successful ever, but campaigns like the Marlboro Cowboy or Nike’s “Just do it” were also of this caliber.

Coca-Cola advertises a very sugary drink and Santa Claus himself is a little overweight. From a marketing perspective, would the campaign be designed differently today?

Yes, definitely. Even today, you wouldn’t put the message “Sugar kills” in the foreground at Christmas. Nobody wants to hear that in times of cookies, chocolate, and punch—and that’s not what Coca-Cola wants anyway. But you would certainly try to make the campaign more diverse overall. But that doesn’t change the fact that Santa Claus is absolutely accepted as he is—tradition plays a major role here.