Giftmas Day is Dundrum Town Centre’s annual shopping event, designed to kick off the festive shopping season with incredible discounts for one day only.
Dundrum Town Centre engaged Harris PR to elevate Giftmas Day, turning it into a culturally relevant media moment which would drive excitement and awareness long before doors opened on November 6th. Cutting through the festive noise, the brief was to position Giftmas Day as an ownable festive moment not to be missed at Ireland’s premier retail and leisure destination.
In a period increasingly dominated by noisy, bright and bold festive campaigns, we wanted to deliver a softer, more heartfelt approach. Through research we uncovered that Irish people recognise that the festive period can be a lonely time for many, and that the act of giving can be a powerful driver for human connection. These insights lay at the heart of our campaign.
We know that consumers crave value, experience and surprise, especially at Christmas. So, our challenge was clear: build a one-day-only festive takeover that rewards shoppers, captures the magic of the season, and delivers commercial impact for tenants. With peak season competition fiercer than ever and media diaries packed with events, we needed a carefully phased campaign featuring a standout creative idea and talent to capture attention.
At the heart of our PR activation was Ireland’s first Live Advent Calendar: a giant, interactive installation that revealed surprise retailer gifts for lucky shoppers in real time. It became the visual anchor of the campaign, a photo ready centrepiece designed to spark social sharing and land instantly with press.
To build fame and secure early coverage, we worked with Irish music icon Samantha Mumba as campaign ambassador. Her nostalgia factor, strong media pull, and legacy hit cover of All I Want For Christmas, made her the perfect choice to officially announce Giftmas Day’s return and the Live Advent Calendar. Against the backdrop of a festive photocall, Samantha spoke with invited media and surprised shoppers with an acapella rendition of her festive No. 1, ensuring the launch moment resonated strongly on social media.
On Giftmas Day morning an exclusive media and influencer preview featured guaranteed prizes to create early momentum. This allowed press and content creators to experience the magic first, generating real time content that spread across social channels within minutes of doors opening.
Giftmas Day cut through one of the busiest moments of the festive season, securing strong national and regional attention through high impact photography, quality earned coverage in key media outlets, media and influencer engagement with the live Advent Calendar, creator and publisher social content, and a stunning viral social moment with Samantha’s impromptu rendition of All I Want For Christmas.
Rather than feed into the saturated Black Friday and Cyber Monday news cycle, we instead challenged audiences to disconnect from their hectic lives and watch the 12-minute film as a reminder of the important things in life.
Together, these results transformed Giftmas Day from an annual shopping event into a culturally resonant Christmas experience. Driving chatter, coverage, footfall and sales, we ensured the day felt bigger, brighter and more newsworthy than ever before, reinforcing Dundrum Town Centre’s position as Ireland’s leading festive shopping destination.
