About.com creates video short to market to advertisers

About.com is engaged in a b-to-b campaign to build its roster of advertisers. The company created a two-and-a-half minute video that features About.com executives and stakeholders discussing the site's brand proposition.

In documentary style, another aspect shows Evan Minskoff, VP of marketing for the About Group, talking about the overall marketing campaign, which includes a consumer element that launched earlier this month.

Gigantic produced the spot, which is expected to be e-mailed to clients within the next two weeks, said Minskoff.

About.com, owned by The New York Times Co., is a collection of websites that offers information on a variety of topics from music from the '80s to hearing loss. Its campaign emphasizes its ability to connect advertisers with consumers on a very targeted level. For example, a dad who searches for "family activities" might be directed to an About.com page detailing potential family outings. A marketer of camping gear would likely want to advertise on this page, explained Minskoff.

“We are targeting any marketer who has a goal to accomplish,” said Minskoff.

The new tagline further emphasizes this direction: “Need. Know. Accomplish.” The consumer campaign includes out-of-home and digital executions, such as an initial roll-out of animated shorts in Boston and Los Angeles baseball stadiums, taxi tops and subways in New York and online digital banner ads.

Minskoff said a b-to-c element was added because "sometimes there's no better way to reach the marketer than as a consumer."