Viral success...but has it built a brand?

Once again, OfficeMax has released the ElfYourself greeting card builder and the social networking sites are flooding with everyone's hilarious creations.

ElfYourself is a simple, yet brilliant tool that lets you upload the faces of up to five friends into an interface. The photos become the faces of a bunch of elves. It then spits out a "greeting card" where your elves dance around the screen to a disco version of a holiday song - complete with disco dance floor, funky moves and camera angles. The ElfYourself is sure to get a chuckle from anyone who sees it. At the end of the sequence, you are given the opportunity to click and purchase holiday gifts (mugs, shirts, etc.) with your elf's face on i t from Office Max.

The ElfYourself site was launched back in 2006 by OfficeMax and reappears every holiday season with much anticipation and exponential usage - as a recurring "viral" website, it is probably one of, if not the most successful (in my opinion).

After a drop off in popularity last year, the added integration into Facebook and Twitter has caused a resurgence. OfficeMax's agency, Tribal DDB, also organized a flash mob of elves in New York to generate additional hype.

My question of course is - has it helped to build the OfficeMax brand; and more importantly, does it generate sales?

OfficeMax does provide a call to action to buy swag after watching the greeting card. The creator can also purchase a copy of the card for $4.99 to keep beyond the holidays.

I've searched the 'net trying to find out, but a Google search returns articles with lots of stats on views / hits but nothing about sales or monetization.

OfficeMax has hit a homerun with their fun take on the traditional e-card but I am dying to know what it cost them to launch/promote and if it has had any real impact on business... and more importantly, does it really matter in this case? Maybe OfficeMax just wants to spread some holiday cheer!

The Power of Viral

Ever heard of the "Three Wolf Moon" tee? If you're on the Internet, there's a good chance you have.

What is so important about this Internet phenom? Absolutely nothing. But somehow, the shirt, distributed by a New Hampshire-based wholesale company called The Mountain has become the #1 selling apparel item on Amazon.com.

The phenom started when pranksters started creating reviews for the shirt on Amazon which told of the "power" of the shirt.

According to reviewers, who have flocked to the site in droves to create their own stories, the shirt helps men attract women. For example, one reviewer wrote:

"This item has wolves on it which makes it intrinsically sweet and worth 5 stars by itself, but once I tried it on, that's when the magic happened. After checking to ensure that the shirt would properly cover my girth, I walked from my trailer to Wal-mart with the shirt on and was immediately approached by women."

Some of the stories/reviews are absolutely hilarious. Others, just plain stupid. There's even a fully produced video review! Either way, this plain old tee has been reviewed over 1,500 times on Amazon with more appearing daily. The shirt has also hit mainstream after being worn on TV by the likes of Rainn Wilson in The Office.

The Mountain reported a 2300% increase in sales of this one shirt alone and while they don't seem to mind the sales, they're keeping pretty quiet about it stating that they're not huge fans of some of the comments being posted by readers.

Others trying to capitalize on the shirt-sensation have created the "5 kittens" and other not-so-cool knock offs.

The moral of the story: the viral capabilities of the Internet can make just about anything a success. Some clever marketing and a little bit of luck can help make your product a huge phenom.... even if it is just a fad.

For a whole lot of laughs, check out the Three Wolves reviews on Amazon.com by clicking here.