Targeting people who seek information for work, school and hobbies, Nicholson NY, New York, has begun a campaign to develop an online audience for Chicago-based Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.'s new Web navigation service eBLAST.
The site, located at www.eblast.com, will have a directory of more than 130,000 sites that have been selected by the encyclopedia publisher's editors for their quality and usefulness, as well as a forum area where users can share perspectives on new media and their effects.
The agency plans to first use broad-reach vehicles, like large search engines, to raise awareness of the site. Through the search engines, Nicholson will target teachers, students, researchers, parents with children who surf the net, senior citizens and hobbyists, said Kathleen Sheridan, media director for Nicholson NY.
The initial banners position the site as the Intelligent Person's Guide to the Web, Sheridan said.
“Right now the banners are more of an awareness and branding tool,” she said. “They have the look and feel of the site — so when people respond to a banner, they will find what they expected to see on the site.”
After responses to the initial banners have been analyzed, later banners will speak to specific audiences who have shown an interest in the site and discuss the benefits of the site for each audience. In addition, banner placement will be expanded to include specific content sites that reach audiences who have become eblast.com visitors.
Later stages of Internet advertising may also include forms of advertising other than banner, such as sponsorships and partnerships, Sheridan said.
