Find entries by tag
- 21st century business (14)
- action (6)
- AI (2)
- aspiration (10)
- behaviours (1)
- business (8)
- business planning (21)
- business success (14)
- changing lives (11)
- charity (79)
- charity governance code (2)
- cic (6)
- CIO (3)
- coaching (16)
- collaboration (21)
- communication (3)
- community (1)
- community interest company (4)
- community shares (2)
- contract readiness (3)
- corporate culture (10)
- corporate personality (2)
- creative think tank (7)
- csr (17)
- decision making (4)
- entrepreneur (46)
- environment (2)
- ethical audit (1)
- exit strategies (3)
- family business (2)
- feasibility study (6)
- focus on action (4)
- Franchising (2)
- funding and investment (5)
- fundraising (1)
- goal setting (33)
- goals (2)
- governance (4)
- growth (8)
- i factor (1)
- ideas (2)
- income (1)
- innovation (19)
- inspiration (42)
- investment (4)
- leadership (8)
- local authority (9)
- marketing (45)
- mihm (3)
- new normal (1)
- niche (8)
- niche market (4)
- pandemic (2)
- passion (1)
- pricing (2)
- profit (3)
- public sector (6)
- relationships (3)
- responsible organisation charter (21)
- rethinking parks (1)
- ROC (5)
- rotherham (1)
- rural diversification (1)
- sales (7)
- sales training (1)
- sellability (1)
- sme (1)
- socent (13)
- social enterprise (41)
- social entrepreneur (2)
- social impact (6)
- social investment (1)
- solopreneur (2)
- staff engagement (6)
- stakeholders (2)
- strategic development (23)
- strategy (18)
- success (12)
- sustainable profit (4)
- team (1)
- team working (3)
- tendering (1)
- theory of change (2)
- time management (4)
- tools (12)
- travel (3)
- trust (1)
- trustees (2)
- values (36)
- vision (11)
- volunteering (4)
- winning by being good (10)
Posted by Sarah Brown on 23 Dec '25
Should Father Christmas do it?
Father Christmas has market dominance at Christmas, but he is worried. Birth rates are falling, so he is considering building on his distribution skills on the 24th and 25th of December by providing a birthday present delivery service or an Easter Egg delivery service, but should he do it? Here is the story of how he decided on his strategic future:
Taking time to think about strategy
Every year, Father Christmas takes a break, and this year he decided he needed total relaxation, so he booked an Azamara cruise around the Caribbean. Booking his usual fortnight away, he was sure that it would be the perfect chance to relax and think about his strategy for the coming years.He had already read “Winning by being Good” (see more here), so he knew he had to check how his ideas stacked up against the 15 Essential Pillars of Success that make up the ROC© (Responsible Organisation Charter). The ROC© provides the foundation for thriving in the 21st century, whether you run a business, charity, or social enterprise.
He thought he would assess how he would score his organisation if he diversified into birthday presents or Easter eggs. Under the Leadership section, he was happy that both ideas fit his values and the vision of bringing joy to children all over the world, and that everyone in the organisation, from the smallest elf, was action-focused, so all seemed OK.
Product Offerings - were they really the same?
The ROC© is great because you can consider it in any order you like, and quite rightly Father Christmas wanted to think if he really could meet the criteria set out in “Winning by being Good”:
- Life changing
- Reliably consistent
- Minimising environmental impact
As he lay on his sunbed, he realised that Azamara must have had similar thoughts to his. As an American cruise line targeting the American market, it has focused on one-week holidays, since Americans tend to take short vacations because companies do not typically allow much vacation time.
They had decided to expand by offering fortnight-long holidays and were even launching a 175-night world cruise. They didn’t describe them as a fortnight cruise but as back-to-back cruises. The ship was also about half full of British people taking a fortnight cruise like him. So was doing more of the same, working for Azamara.
What he observed was no. The line was set up for one week, so the menus, entertainment, and technology were designed for that period. Their strategy highlighted, for example, their famous White Night special as a single night on a week's cruise, but not so special when it happens every week.
The menus were similar in the second week of the cruise, as was the entertainment. The technology meant passengers had to rebook/sort a second week of internet or any special promotion, and passengers even had to go through immigration at the halfway point, and some even had to do another lifeboat drill. For British passengers used to a cruise designed around its length, not by the week, this was an unpleasant shock, leading many to conclude they would not book with Azamara again.
When Father Christmas considered his product offering, if he chose either strategy, he realised that, though they seemed the same, they were not. Delivering a food item like an Easter Egg might require special temperature control depending on the country and might not be appropriate, as Easter even has different dates around the world. He would be worried about being reliably consistent. Birthday presents would require entirely new technology to manage the different dates for children around the world, and would be much less efficient and environmentally friendly, as the children would be spread out with large gaps between deliveries.
Conclusion
Father Christmas concluded that diversifying into birthday or Easter Egg deliveries would undermine the strengths that make his Christmas operation so successful. The logistical challenges, environmental concerns, and loss of the magic associated with a single, globally celebrated event outweighed the potential benefits. Sometimes, focusing on what you do best—and doing it exceptionally well—is the greatest strategy of all.
Simply put, it would undermine his brand after all, what would an Easter Egg delivering Father Christmas wear or even be called? Would he have to shave?!!
He was glad he had had the time and space to think and a clear framework, the ROC©, from “Winning by being Good“ to use to structure his thinking
If you have enjoyed this read :
7 marketing tips from Father Christmas
How can you thrive in adverse conditions?
If you want a brief chat about your strategy for 2026 organise a session with Sarah. Buy “Winning by being Good” from Amazon or any good book shop and please leave reviews wherever you buy it