Damn you OfficeMax. Your Elf Yourself campaign case study has somehow found its way into my inbox and I’m now sleepless in the Manila viral lab thinking about my own MarketingProfs worthy virus.
By the second holiday season, ElfYourself.com had become an online holiday destination. When the site was active, between Nov. 20., 2007 and Jan 2, 2008:
- More than 193 million site visits with 123 million elves created
- 60 elves created per second
- Site ranted No. 51 most-visited on the Web (Hitwise)
- Some 53% of visitors returned to the siteRanked No. 1 on “Movers & Shakers” (Alexa Rankings)
- Ranked among top 1,000 sites in 50 countries (Alexa)
- Featured on CNN, ABC World News, Fox News Good Morning America, Today Show, USA Today
A follow-up survey conducted by OfficeMax found:
- 63% of participants who shop for office supplies at least 10 times per year were aware of Elf Yourself.
- 95% of those who visited Elf Yourself claimed they would likely visit Elf Yourself again in 2008.
- More than one-third of those who visited Elf Yourself said the site influenced their decision to visit OfficeMax, and about one-third of visitors said the site improved their perception of OfficeMax.
Somehow cars and elves don’t mix. And please, no Soulja Elf suggestions :)