1. They're the Little Elves That Could By Jonathan Lemmonier Robert Christner Nicole Cecchini

2. Were You Elfed? 26.4 Million people visited Office Max’s holiday web site –That’s almost 1 in 10 Americans who were exposed to the Company’s viral marketing strategy –Almost a tenfold increase from the previous year, the first year this marketing strategy was introduced The website allows visitors to paste friends and relatives faces onto dancing elves.

3. The Elves are Multiplying!!!! 123 Million elves were created this Holiday Season –Up from 11 million The Previous Year The time people spent on the ElfYourself website if added up would have totaled 2,614 years.

4. “A Digital Phenomenon” The site REappeared ONLINE in October 2007site By December the site ranked 55 th among the most visited websites Santa’s little helpers ended up actually helping to increase awareness of the Office Max Company

5. Building Brand Awareness Ranking 3 rd in the industry, Office Max was looking to differentiate its’ brand with this marketing strategy –“We were looking to build our brand, warm up our image. We weren’t looking for sales….we were trying to differentiate ourselves through humor and humanization.” –Bob Thacker, Sr. V.P. Marketing and Advertising for Office Max

6. Viral Marketing Let’s YOUR Customers do THE Work Viral Marketing can be a cheaper solution to a company’s advertising needs –Less then the cost of a T.V. ad, which may run anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000 “The proof is we’re still talking about it” –Pete Blackshaw, exec. V.P. of Nielsen Online Strategic Services The effect of Viral Marketing extends beyond the consumer’s initial exposure –In the case of ElfYourself, the website was passed on among millions of friends and family, carrying with it the Office Max brand name.

7. Keys to Viral Marketing Make it personal Don’t discount older audiences Offer fun

8. References Lemonnier, John. “They’re the Little Elves That Could,” Advertising Age, Jan. 21, 2008. <http://adage.com/http://adage.com/ digital/article?article_id=123226digital/article?article_id=123226>.