You may think of him as everybody’s beloved Santa, but the nice old man dressed in red is, in fact, the ultimate globalist.
Unlike in Anglo-Saxon countries, where Protestant tradition links Santa Claus to Christmas, many predominantly Catholic European countries celebrate him on Dec. 6, when the saint his figure is based on, Nicholas, the bishop of the Greek port of Myra, died in 343 AD.
Following are the six reasons why Santa Claus is the ultimate globalist:
Santa delivers to a global market
Early on in his business, he realized that the North Pole is not much of a market and has thus taken his venture to a global level, a strategy that has proven successful. Incidentally, his move also greatly helped the toy market, whose global sales would be nowhere near as high without his existence.
Santa is an expert at brand building
Starting from and sticking to his roots, he managed to build a global brand that has a strong connection to its origins while at the same time is instantly recognizable around the world.
Santa’s brand also transcends religious barriers. For example, many children from non-Christian cultures whose families might be otherwise reluctant to celebrate other aspects of Christianity, often learn to embrace Santa when they arrive in Europe or the United States. The reward for these kids in accepting Santa is often far too great.
Santa is a human resource wizard
Santa employs a vast army of elves in the North Pole, and despite the enormous workload, we have never received any reports of strikes or industrial actions from Santa’s workshop.
Santa’s decision to move production to the North Pole was also a savvy strategy. For one, there are no other industries that exist in the region that can poach his elf staff, while at the same time, his monopoly on the workforce also likely helps keep costs down.
Despite Santa’s strong position, there is no evidence that he treats his workers poorly. Most elves appear to enjoy working for the big red boss. Long vacations following the Christmas season probably also contribute to high worker satisfaction.
Santa conducts impeccable market research
Any global brand experiences difficulties in accurately gauging the pulse of its many local markets. Not so with Santa: he has a myriad force of unpaid yet loyal local agents in the form of parents, uncles and grandparents.
Santa retains their loyal service through the generous distribution of presents to these parental figures when they were kids. For Santa, it only requires around ten to 12 years of gift-giving to ensure decades of free labor from these grown-ups.
The fact that they remain loyal to him throughout their lives shows that Santa even bests Japanese companies in terms of workforce retention.
Santa delivers high customer satisfaction
Jeff Bezos is known for his relentless drive to improve customer satisfaction, but compared to Santa, Bezos is an embarrassment.
Santa has made children happy for generations and unlike Bezos, he has never been accused of running a year-round “sweatshop,” refused to pay corporate taxes (there is no real government in the North Pole) or turned his products into spy devices to gather private information from customers.
Simple and effective product distribution.
Santa is a master of the supply chain. He manages to visit millions of households all in the space of a few hours on one magical night a year. Unlike other services that leave packages on your doorstep only for them to be robbed by the local neighborhood tweaker, Santa never fails to deliver his presents directly inside your home.
He also mostly manages this on his own. Using nothing more than his sleigh, he distributes presents around the world directly into waiting stockings and underneath Christmas trees, and in the process brings the concept of just-in-time delivery to a whole new level.
Title image: Joulupukki holding a press conference at the Budapest Chain Bridge Hotel (MTI/Balázs Mohai)
