When I opened up my email today…I was impressed. There—sitting quietly in my inbox— was a compelling image reminding me about earth day. Attached to the email was an kind invitation to remember earth day, visit their website, and join their mailing list. If you do, you get a free canvas bag.

This intrigued me…so of course I visited the site (me loves the free). Ted and Debbie were so smart…they put the mailing list link in the secondary navigation.

I wasn’t frustrated…but I did have to experience the entire site before finding it.

This is brilliant marketing. Read the full story

Ok…this just landed in my inbox today.
The design is nice…but the photo selection is a little questionable.

I mean, it may be a great testimonial…but if you have a geeky looking CEO looking like he has to take a dump…you might want to think twice before making him the focal point of your email campaign.

Remember when we featured OfficeMax’s “Elf Yourself” campaign (Get Elfed) on our blog in December? Well, AdWeek just reported that it was one of 2007’s most successful viral marketing campaigns, with over 110 million users.

Their point? Successful viral marketing is simple. Technology is great, but it’s not ready for viral marketing just yet:

“The success of “Elf Yourself,” created by Toy in New York and EVB in San Francisco, is one of several Web initiatives that have attained viral fame while others with flashier technology or in-depth storytelling have fallen short. Their secret: Keep it dead simple, make it personal and give people a reason to pass it on. These sites might not win awards or wow other creative directors, but they draw big audiences by eschewing the urge to add on features and functions.” *

So, in grand Bauhaus fashion…the rule of viral marketing is similar to design, branding and other communications initiatives: Less is More. Yay Bauhaus!

Read the article online here.

*Quote from Adweek Online Article” “The Rules of Viral Web Success, At Least For Now”, January 7, 2008
**Special thanks to Leah Gowin of Stewart Title for sending us this great article!

Wanna have some fun? Head on over to elfyourself.com and upload your photo.
Watch yourself dance around like an idiot! It’s hours of fun!