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Internet Santas are unreliable and lazy
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37 percent of e-mails were left unanswered
Two out of five German Santas reply in person
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Hamburg, Germany, December 20th, 2004 –
Online Santas are failing to meet expectations: two out of five fail to respond to children’s e-mails. These are the results of a recent Christmas e-mail response analysis carried out by novomind AG. One in two responded to a personal e-mail by sending out a standard response. There was very little Christian goodwill and Christmas spirit on show. "Rudolph has just sneezed and there’s snot everywhere. I’ll be seeing you soon. But right now, I’m going to have to start cleaning my computer because it’s as shiny as Rudolph’s nose," one message informed young e-mailers – even though they probably did not want to know. 6 year-old Luisa and 5 year-old Linda sent a total of 44 e-mails to Santas in the USA, Germany, Canada, Austria, the UK and Finland.
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The girls were in for a bitter disappointment: only about six in ten Santas replied to their questions and wish lists. Three quarters sent a standard response, some of which did not even contain a personalized greeting. Questions were rarely answered. "Could you also bring a new bicycle for my brother Jonas?" – even the most selfless requests failed to move most Santas to write a couple of lines of their own. Instead, responses were heartlessly impersonal, containing texts such as "Thank you for writing to Santa to tell him that you’re 5 years old".
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Apparently, international Santas take more time to reply if you try to shock them: "My big sister told me that you don’t exist? Does that mean I won’t be getting any presents this year?" Luisa asked Santa Claus. Three out of ten Santas left her to wallow in her misery. They did not even find the time to sent her a standard response. Still, eleven percent more responses were sent when children questioned the existence of Santa Claus. Five out of 22 even sent Luisa a personal response. German Santas came out particularly well. 42 percent answered Luisa and Linda’s e-mails personally. One Santa reassured Luisa within nine minutes: "Santa Claus really does exist. A lot of people just don’t know how to see him." On average, German Santas took almost 20 hours to answer an e-mail.
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Although US Santas are quicker to respond than their German equivalents, with an average response time of 2 hours and 35 minutes, they spend little time writing personal and detailed responses to the e-mails that the two girls had translated into English. All answers received from US Christmas representatives were standard e-mails. Finland’s Santa, Joulupukki, was equally disappointing. Children who wrote to the North Pole Christmas village received an impersonal and less-than-festive response: "Do you know ‘ruska’? That’s what we call autumn over here."
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The best site for letters to Santa Claus is www.weihnachtsstadt.de. Santa takes less than four hours to send a personal response. www.nikolaus.de came in second. However, it took almost six days for Linda and Luisa to receive a personal response. However, Luisa did receive a personal message from Bishop Nikolaus, www.bischof-nikolaus.de’s Santa, after just nine minutes.
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German Santas answer more e-mails personally.
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novomind sent two e-mails to each of the online Santa Claus and Christmas representatives. Ten US Santas, as well as 7 German Nikolauses, 2 Canadian Father Christmases and one Santa from Austria, the UK and Finland, respectively, received the e-mails. One e-mail contained a wish list and the second asked whether Santa Claus really existed.
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novomind AG is the leading provider of digital customer communication solutions enabling optimized processes and lower costs. The product department’s portfolio includes e-mail management systems, as well as virtual customer services assistants and systems for interactive communication in real time. The novomind services department develops complex e-business applications, including scalable online shop solutions. novomind’s products and solutions focus on future-oriented service, efficient and personalized communication, and higher-performance administration. A rapid ROI is guaranteed and ongoing, long-term customer loyalty ensured. Leading companies from across the market sectors – including Bertelsmann Der Club, Otto, Sparkasse Erlangen, BKK Gesundheit, Travelocity and Hannoversche Leben, as well as public sector representatives such as the German Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security (BMGS) – have already successfully implemented novomind systems to boost customer loyalty, turnover and public relations.
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