• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 15, 2005

When Yahoo! Mail pages start peeling away this week, it won't be the heat, but the highlight of Celebrity Cruise Lines' summer ad campaign. Unlike the standard peel-away ads, which drag from one direction, these new PointRoll ads tear a users' screen in two from right to the left, revealing fantasy locales along with Celebrity's pitch: "Do you dream of destinations?"

"This will be the first time Celebrity 'owns' a whole page," said Anthe Karademos, Celebrity Cruise's online director.

The ad is slated to launch this week, possibly as early as today. The broader campaign, estimated at $400,000, began last month and will run through September on MSN.com, Golf.com, and the niche travel site ShermansTravel.com, among others. The Yahoo! Mail takeover accounts for a quarter of the total estimated cost. The initiative marks the first use of this type of PointRoll format.

For Celebrity, the campaign is also distinct because, unlike past efforts, there is no traditional component. And, according to Karademos, the lack of traditional is anything but a weakness.

"We are really excited about this campaign because of the reach we get," she explained. "We are slated to receive millions of impressions, which is more cost-effective than reaching the same number of people through more traditional channels."

Karademos wouldn't say how many visitors or conversions the campaign has attracted thus far.

Interactive shop Planning Group International has handled Celebrity's online advertising exclusively for about three years, according to Ross Stein, a Planning Group media planner.

"We handled their direct mail and branding and promotions, but this campaign was more focused on selling cruises than ever," said Stein, adding that this campaign will mark the first time the creative copy includes price points. For example, one ad says that cruises to the Panama Canal start at $800.