In honor of the current National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, things are going pink across the Vibrant Media network of 1,200 IntelliTxt-enabled publishers – specifically the words “breast cancer.”
Beginning today the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Wilson Sporting Goods Co. have paired with the in-text advertiser to raise awareness of the disease and funding for a cure. Throughout October the Research Foundation has exclusive advertising rights to use the phrase “breast cancer” to launch user-initiated video units as part of the ad network’s word ownership program. The word-buy and the campaign creative were done at Vibrant Media’s expense.
“We’re not a giant company,” said campaign originator Anna Kassoway, vice president of marketing at Vibrant Media, New York, “but there’s a lot of good we can do for a great cause.”
With around 140 employees, Vibrant Media hopes to send a positive message to its staff as well as present its values to the greater public, according to Vibrant Media CEO Doug Stevenson.
Rather than the standard green underlining, the phrase “breast cancer,” will be double-underlined and highlighted pink on all Vibrant Media partner Web sites including iVillage, Oxygen.com, Shape.com, eDiets and Nubella.com, which deal with women’s health issues.
When users scroll over the highlighted text a video unit appears playing a short message with audio from the Research Foundation. The ad unit features logos of both the Research Foundation as well as Wilson Sporting Goods, Chicago. Wilson, a long-time corporate sponsor of the Research Foundation, will donate $1 to the nonprofit organization for each click on the video ad unit, up to $100,000.
According to comScore, Vibrant Media reaches more than 70 million consumers worldwide each month.
“We’ve done smaller [charitable] things in the past,” Mr. Stevenson said. “I think it’s the first of many larger campaigns. We have such a scale now that you realize in addition to product adverts you can mix in some adverts for non-profit causes as well.”
