Elves Can Make You Memorable (Just Like OfficeMax)
Check out this video on Making Yourself an Elf, a website sponsored by OfficeMax:
You prepare a photo of yourself, upload it to the site, and send the funny video to friends. Officemax did this and guess what their numbers were. A follow-up survey conducted by OfficeMax found (from MarketingProfs.com):
- 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.
Why do things like this work? There is a subliminal effect of brands to us. It's similar to how religion and rituals affect us. Sending this funny little custom-electronic greeting card is now a Christmas ritual. Doing this repetitively forms some sort of anchor in our brain. Without realizing it, we remember the brand when we perform or see the ritual.
More proof? Here's another example (excerpt from the book - BUYOLOGY):
Cigarette warnings-whether they informed smokers they were at risk of contracting emphysema, heart disease, or a host of other chronic conditions-had in fact stimulated an area of the smokers' brains called the nucleus accumbens, otherwise known as "the craving spot."
Smoking is basically a habit. Cigarette warnings tended to actually stimulate smoking rather than prevent it. Why? Smoker's brains have associated the smoking experience even with the WARNINGS against it. What happens? You want to smoke more. The smoking ritual has been anchored even to NO-SMOKING campaigns.
It's like telling someone "Don't think SMOKING." What an utter failure that would be.
Because Elfyourself.com is so intertwined with OfficeMax. "Don't elf yourself" is almost akin to "Don't think OfficeMax."
You'd only find that out if you test it. OfficeMax had around 20 different websites before they found the right winning and memorable formula.
For more info, I recommend you listen to the audio book version of the Buyology:
Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
(I'm strongly into Audiobooks now. You should try it.)