Every holiday season, web surfers, bloggers, and social media junkies anxiously await the arrival of the customizable elves from Elf Yourself. Around mid-November, ElfYourself.com re-launches allowing users to upload photos of loved ones for creating the holiday e-card of all holiday e-cards: a singing and dancing cast of elf characters who look strangely familiar.
In 2006, OfficeMax was looking for a way to increase holiday traffic – a time where office supply stores were not likely at the top of holiday consumer’s wish lists. In collaboration between Toy, New York, the mastermind behind Elf Yourself, and Evolution Bureau, a full-service digital agency, they came up with a viral holiday marketing campaign that was about to change the perception of OfficeMax in the November and December markets.
The result was ElfYourself.com – a lighthearted, fun, and interactive website where users could turn themselves or others into festive dancing and singing elves. The process was simple to follow – upload personal photos and edit faces to fit onto the face of each elf. Users became immediately engaged in this new website producing 36 million visits and 11 million customized elf faces. The novelty of this site sent people creating e-cards for loved ones and sharing through e-mail, blogs, Youtube, and social networking sites.
The genius behind this campaign for OfficeMax was that it wasn’t about OfficeMax at all. There is little to no mention of office supplies or furniture, but instead it is a festive tool allowing people to create something for free that can be easily shared with others. Despite little mention of OfficeMax, the company saw a 190% increase in traffic to their website along with an increase in both online and walk-in sales.
According to Bob Thacker, Senior VP of Marketing and Advertising at OfficeMax, the point of Elf Yourself was to build brand awareness and not necessarily drive sales. “We are third-place players in our industry, so we are trying to differentiate ourselves through humor and humanization”, he said.
The company got its wish as Elf Yourself was recognized by many media outlets like USA Today, ABC’s “Good Morning America”, and VH1’s Best Week Ever.
OfficeMax released 20 holiday gaming sites including Elf Yourself in 2006 like MistletoeInAnElevator.com and ConspiracyCarols.com, but none fared as well as Elf Yourself making it reach to the level of pop culture. It was measured that ten people were creating elves every second.
With any successful run, the sophomore year is truly a test of whether something will have longevity or become a dying fad. In 2007, OfficeMax brought back Elf Yourself and found the results were even more encouraging than the previous year.
OfficeMax hoped to reach 100 million visitors during the 2007 holiday season. Instead that number was nearly doubled as 193 million visitors came to the website. These visitors created 123 million elves during the five week campaign with an average of 52 elves created per second.
OfficeMax surveyed customers following the campaign and found that one third of these consumers were influenced to shop at OfficeMax because of their experience with Elf Yourself.
In 2008, OfficeMax partnered with JibJab, a website well known for online political parodies. Elf Yourself’s technology was heightened using JibJab’s Starring You ® platform. This technology allowed users to not only create e-cards, but also to transform their creation into purchasable goods like coffee mugs, ornaments, playing cards, and other holiday gifts.
In addition, 2008 brought more options including several different dances including the Charleston, Country, and Disco. Finding the right music for each musical taste made the experience even more customizable.
Elf Yourself 2008 showed 55.5 million site visits with 122 million elves created.
The following year, Elf Yourself returned with up to 5 customizable elves and the following videos to choose from –Hip Hop, Disco, Country, and Singing Elves. Sharing videos on social media sites like Facebook and MySpace became even easier with a single click. Users were also able to share their videos via Twitter.
Instead of having to upload photos, users could use their Facebook images to use for the e-card. Another change to the 2009 campaign, known as Elf Yourself 4.0, included users not having to create a JibJab account before using the website. The 4.0 campaign saw 93 million visitors who created 159 million elves.
The 2010 holiday season ushered in Elf Yourself 5.0 with great excitement. OfficeMax had a “Dancing Elves” float during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. In addition, elves rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange on November 23, 2010 to mark the beginning of the holiday season for OfficeMax.
The site re-launched with eight dances including two new videos – 80’s Dance Party and Surfer Elves. Users were able to purchase DVDs of their customized videos along with other gift items.
In the off-season, visitors to ElfYourself.com will find a message stating, “The elves have left the building.” Shortly before a November re-launch, a countdown ticker appears marking the moment when users can once again create their elves not only with fun new videos, but also updated images of their own.
The anticipation of its return has grown to become a holiday tradition in the online world. This long lasting holiday marketing campaign has become a sought after piece of cyber festive fun. Every year, millions of people around the world cannot wait to “Elf” themselves.
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Resources:
Elfyourself.com From OfficeMax Becomes One of Hottest Holiday Web Sites of 2006
OfficeMax's Elf Yourself Reaches 193 Million Visitors
ElfYourself and the OfficeMax Brand
They're the Little Elves That Could
