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There have been many famous primates in entertainment over the years: Mighty Joe Young, King Kong, and George W. Bush. Curious George also enjoyed a number of years in the limelight and made a recent 2006 appearance  starring in his very own film… but all of these primates have been outshone. Welcome to the age of the Careerbuilder monkey.

In 2006, Careerbuilder created an award-winning viral email campaign called Monk-e-Mail by using its popular “monkey” TV creative and adapting it for online use. By using compelling creative and spending zero media dollars , Careerbuilder was able to craft an incredibly successful viral email campaign. To this day, Careerbuilder’s viral campaign is still running strong and has been sent from user-to-user and parodied countless times. Your business can learn from Careerbuilder when putting together its own viral campaign.

Careerbuilder’s Viral Monk-e-Mail Campaign Background

The Monk-e-Mail Creative:
Careerbuilder’s viral campaign creative featured a landing page to attract customers using its established “Working With Monkeys” creative. The page directed you to create a custom accessorized monkey (wigs included!), record a message, and send it to your friends, family, or coworkers for their amusement.

The Monk-e-Mail Media:
With a media budget of $0  dollars, the only way to hear about Monk-e-Mail was to receive an email from a friend, hear about it via word-of-mouth, find it through Careerbuilder’s website, or read about it in the press.

So, How Did Careerbuilder Do It?

In 2006, Careerbuilder’s Monk-e-Mail earned the coveted BUZZ award and earned a Webby in 2007 for its viral campaign, so how did they do it?

The Monk-e-Mail Creative:
1. You do not need to rack your brains until the magical marketing unicorn flies down to give you viral gold. Careerbuilder used an established viral campaign tactic (email) and adapted it to its existing creative and brand. Viral email campaigns can be a cost-effective way to get your message out there and a good way to stimulate user-to-user interaction.

2. It is a common misconception that viral campaigns need to be crafted outside brand guidelines. Don’t believe the hype! Careerbuilder was able to run a very effective viral campaign while still retaining their brand identity. When thinking of a viral campaign for your company, make sure you uphold your brand image – remember, no matter how big or small you are, you still have a brand.

3. In its first week, Monk-e-Mail saw more than 250,000 visitors. In anticipation of an unexpected number of visitors (by their own admission, the 250,000 visitors were higher than expected), Careerbuilder had the foresight to build a page to handle extremely high volume. Instead of having your site crash, it is better to plan for excessive numbers of visitors.

4. An easy-to-use landing page can provide a huge benefit for your company. On Careerbuilder’s landing page, users were able to go through each step to create their message, preview it, and send it all on the same page! Avoiding a screen-by-screen process and pesky load times is a good way to stimulate interaction.

5. Finally, successful viral campaigns tend to be humorous and entertaining. People are compelled to forward on the message because it is cool and will likely be a source of popular conversation. Admit it, you’ve sent some kind of animal humor to your friends at some point. Hamster on a piano anyone?

The Monk-e-Mail Media:
Spending  zero media dollars was the most genius part of this campaign.

1. According to marketingsherpa.com, “In the first week of monk-e-mail, one email was sent to all CareerBuilder.com employees (approx 1500) and one email was sent to all agency employees (approx 300). There were no marketing dollars spent to promote this campaign. ” Careerbuilder focused on user-to-user interaction using a long-established email tactic: send out the email to a pre-existing company email list. An email sent to 1,800 people is a great size to begin getting your message out there. Your company can use any existing email list involving customers, potential customers, coworkers, acquaintances, family, and friends. If you are putting together a viral email campaign, put together the largest email list possible (a relevant list of course) and send out your creative. And make sure friends and family are on it; they’re the most likely candidates to spread the word.

2. Let the news media carry the weight. The Monk-e-Mail site exploded onto the scene via email and the campaign was picked up by blogs, newspapers, TV shows, message boards, etc… Business Week Online, the Chicago Tribune, MSN.com, Advertising Age, Pembokeshire TV, Brand Sizzle, Micro Persuasion, the Orlando Sentinel, and the Miami Herald all reported on the Monk-e-Mail site. Do whatever you can to get your message out their including contacting media sites via telephone, email, or even carrier pigeon if you have to.

Your Creative and Media Need to Work Together

Without compelling and relevant creative, your viral campaign will fall flat. Without intelligent media solutions, you guessed it, your campaign will fall flat. Your creative and media need to compliment each other to create the best possible viral campaign. In the case of Careerbuilder, a humorous and intriguing landing page was coupled with an effective media plan to produce award winning work.

Analyze your company and see if a viral email campaign can work for you brand. Cost-efficient and intelligent marketing campaigns are paramount for your company’s success, especially in 2009. Think about it, would your boss really say “no” to a zero dollar media plan? If he did, you might just realize you’ve been working with a primate all along…