The Business Context

Gift cards have a perception problem, research data consistently shows people think they're impersonal and transactional. A last-minute fallback when you couldn't think of something better.

Meanwhile, our competitors in the category were stuck in that same transactional mode. Blackhawk, Giftpay weren't doing anything creative and the entire category felt commoditised. We wanted differentiation and we needed to shift the perception that digital gifting lacks thoughtfulness.

At the same time, marketing teams are rarely seen as innovators. That's product and tech's domain. If we could lead innovation rather than just support it, we could change how the organisation viewed the function.

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The Challenge

We wanted to create something genuinely new and innovative. AI-generated personalised videos at scale was emerging technology that we hadn't worked with before and the execution risk was real.

Timelines were tight as well. Christmas and Easter launches meant we were working with fixed deadlines where technical delays weren't an option.

The project required careful agency partnership coordination as external partners were building the technical infrastructure and leading the shoots, while our internal team created the campaigns around the technology.

The stakes were high because significant financial investment had been made by the buisness. If these experiences fell flat or felt gimmicky, we'd reinforce the exact perception we were trying to change rather than shift it.

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The Approach

We wanted to use AI to create human connection rather than replace it.

Between 2024 and 2025, we created four AI-powered personalised video experiences that brought genuine emotion to digital gifting.

Santa's Nice List let children receive personalised videos from Santa confirming they'd made the nice list, complete with their name, photo and the specific reason they'd been nice that year.

Easter Bunny showed kids videos of the Easter Bunny scoping out their actual house before delivering eggs.

Jurassic World partnered with Universal Studios to give recipients personalised mission briefings to discover the new Jurassic World dinosuars.

Christmas Carollers let families or teams upload their faces to create personalised choir videos singing carols together.

The technology behind these experiences involved AI voiceover through ElevenLabs, AI-generated environments and a custom render farm that could handle the volume during peak gifting periods without compromising quality or speed.

I led this work as the internal project lead alongside the CMO, partnering with an agency who provided creative direction and built the technical experience. My role focused on concept selection, shaping the final creative outcomes through multiple feedback rounds and managing internal approvals. The agency collaboration required constant balancing between creative ambition and technical constraints while ensuring the work stayed true to our brand strategy and didn't feel gimmicky.

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The Impact

Santa's Nice List delivered the strongest results, generating 9 million social impressions and 24,000 personalised videos created. The work won six international awards including recognition from RTIH, APAC Loyalty Awards, The Drum, APAC MarTech Awards and Best in Retail.

Brand positioning shifted because we proved innovation leadership in a category where no one else was trying. While competitors stayed transactional, we became the brand making digital gifting feel personal and magical.

Organisational perception changed as well. Marketing teams are typically seen as support functions but by delivering award-winning AI experiences, we shifted what people believed marketing could do. The CEO championed this work as proof of our company values around personalisation and meaningful connection, which elevated the function internally.

The customer response validated the strategy in ways metrics couldn't capture. Parents shared videos of their children's genuine reactions to Santa knowing their names and seeing their photos. The technology created real emotional moments that proved digital gifting could feel as thoughtful as physical gifts.

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Leadership Reflection

The work proved that creative technology can drive real brand differentiation when competitors are stuck in commodity thinking. The experiences gave us something meaningful to talk about beyond product features and pricing, which elevated the entire brand narrative.

It established a foundation for future AI investment and experimentation as well. Leadership saw that marketing could lead innovation when given the space and trust to try new approaches rather than just support product or tech initiatives.

Most importantly, it demonstrated that technology and emotion aren't opposing forces. When used thoughtfully, AI can create more personal and emotionally resonant experiences than traditional approaches allow.