By Korye Logan
Emma video
Elf Yourself 2008 from OfficeMax
featured some important improvements over previous years’ editions, including a strong focus on ROI. While this deserves praise, a key to success in digital marketing is ongoing optimization. It is wise to conduct a post analysis on campaigns to rate efficacy, identify gaps and improve performance moving forward. So let’s take a look at this year’s Elf Yourself, identifying things done right as well as improvements to be made.
3 THINGS DONE RIGHT IN ELF YOURSELF 2008
1. Minimal Investment: the media property was leveraged as a business asset
OfficeMax selected JibJab Media as a partner. JibJab approached OfficeMax and offered to do the upfront development work as part of a business partnership. Clearly this was proposed due to the high traffic Elf Yourself garnered last season. While this disappointed the creators of the concept (EVB in San Francisco and Toy in New York), it was a prudent move considering the current economic climate.
2. Monetized Model: merchandising was a key component of the user experience
An Elf Yourself ornament hung on many trees this year, including the one in my home. Even more merchandise
was purchased (in the form of cards, photos, mousepads and cups) and given as gifts. Additionally, the customized video content is available to download for $4.99. While sales numbers have not been released, they certainly are an improvement on the lack of traceable sales for previous campaigns.
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3. Social & Viral Components:
email, Facebook used to spread the word
OfficeMax and JibJab leveraged Facebook and personal emails to cost-effectively promote the campaign. Elf Yourself’s Facebook App has nearly a million fans to date, compared to almost none in mid-November. This year’s campaign featured a variety of electronic delivery methods, including email, embedding and downloads. A Google blog search of Elf Yourself (combined with ElfYourself) returns an inordinate number of results.
Note: It is unfortunate that the ElfYourself YouTube account went essentially untouched this year.
3 WAYS TO IMPROVE ELF YOURSELF IN 2009
1. Drive Retail Traffic: Reach for the Sky trailer increase visits to OfficeMax stores and .com
Traffic and stickiness for this year’s Elf Yourself campaign were strong, according to a December 17, 2008 MediaPost story. “The typical user so far has stayed on the site for 15 minutes–double the 7.5 minutes for last year’s total campaign–and has created 4.5 separate elf-centric videos, up from two a year ago.” The Omen trailer Attack of the 50 Foot Woman divx
This kind of engagement should be leveraged to drive retail traffic to stores and OfficeMax.com. The campaign does a fine job of capturing people’s attention, delivering value and building goodwill. It’s a small, but crucial step to take this momentum and convert it into real revenue. Even a simple coupon program could drive conversions. To get retail traffic, stores could set up an Elf Workshop. People could bring their kids or pets in to get a picture taken with elves.
2. Include Product Promotions: give visitors a reason to do some holiday shopping
Don’t let all those people come and go without offering specials, discounts and promotions. Serve up deals on digital photo frames, notebooks and gift cards. Elf Yourself 2008 featured ad banners, but not for OfficeMax. Missing out on this in the midst of the holiday shopping season is akin to putting short in golf – hard to forgive.
Elf Yourself gives OfficeMax a golden opportunity to promote products and drive revenue, especially online. This year, e-commerce was one of the few bright spots
in a tough retail shopping season. The company should also leverage co-op funds from manufacturers such as HP, Microsoft and 3M.
3. A Year-Round Online Presence: leverage Elf Yourself into ongoing digital promotions
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Identify other opportunities to drive this kind of online interaction throughout the year. What do elves do in the off season? Could they be related to cupids (Valentine’s Day) or leprechauns (St. Patrick’s Day)? Do they go trick or treating on Halloween? Using the elf concept is just one creative approach to consider.
OfficeMax also has the affable Rubberband Man, who is featured in their popular television ad campaign. He could help people compile back-to-school shopping lists. He could offer periodic business tips about organization, filing and more. A long-term community model could be built around this creative. It could feature entertaining videos, useful articles and user discussion forums – all accompanied by subtle and relevant product merchandising.
A good online marketing campaign keeps getting better
It’s nice to see OfficeMax continue to improve Elf Yourself each year. Look at your online promotions with the same commitment to ongoing optimization. No campaign is perfect. And what works well this time could be irrelevant next quarter. Consider how you can leverage a variety of channels in your digital marketing mix: microsites, social networks, user generated content, etc. Also determine what off-line marketing components should be used, and how to integrate all assets effectively. Of course, it is imperative to establish how the campaign will be monitored and measured.
The most important thing you can do for any online campaign is to be keenly focused on business objectives. Les Luchter’s MediaPost article
about Elf Yourself cites “this year’s goals of deeper consumer engagement, higher retention, greater brand association and stronger social media presence.” I view these as strategies that should support the broader business objectives of higher share of mind, improved brand perception, increased traffic to OfficeMax.com and retail stores – resulting in more purchase considerations. This slight shift in focus can significantly improve a campaign’s ROI.
