Do your campaigns do this?

I’m a big believer that brand awareness is not a goal. I’m also a big believer that OfficeMax may even have failed at that. Grok Dot Com gives an object lesson in how to miss the mark with a marketing campaign, no matter what that mark is.

Robert Gorell does a great job explaining what ought to be your rationale behind your site. Ultimately if your site – whether a main site, a microsite or an affiliate site – doesn’t lead to revenues, then you might want to rethink it, no matter how much fun it might be. Even sites like JibJab or the Onion need a business model. And I suspect Ze Frank got lots of business opportunities from his work on The Show.

If your goal is to launch a fun, funny, viral experience, that’s OK. But if it doesn’t tie directly back to a measurable, repeatable, realistic goal, take it back to the drawing board. You don’t want to Elf up your campaign, too.