• by Aaron Baar , October 12, 2009

Turns out that Brown, via its UPS Stores, can do a lot more for you than just ship packages.

Following on the heels of its "Cardboard World" advertising campaign from April, The UPS Store is launching a Cardboard World Web site to educate people --- in particular, small business owners --- about the many services the company offers.

"Every time we do research, the thing [people] understand most is shipping and packing; it's a natural tendency for people to go there," Tom Crockett, The UPS Store's vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, tells Marketing Daily. "We felt the Web would be one more way to engage with our customers about the different services we offer."

The site, http://cardboard.theupsstore.com, is an immersive three-dimensional world through which people can play games and understand more about services such as online printing, notary and passport services. The site introduces users to the character Joe Biz, who is constructed out of cardboard, as he prepares for an important presentation. As users navigate the site, they collect tokens. Once they collect the tokens for all of the business areas, they can move to the coliseum, where they can compete for prizes and enter a sweepstakes to win a trip to Hawaii.

"One of the highlights and benefits of this site is that you can see all the services we offer," Crockett says. "People are fragmenting their attention among so many things these days -- you have to find different ways to educate them about your business."

The UPS Store will promote the Web site -- developed by agency Doner in Southfield, Mich. -- mostly through online banner and search advertising, Crockett says. The effort is targeting the small businesses that need (and do not have) the services The UPS Store offers.

One notable absence of the microsite is an e-commerce component. As a franchised company, a centralized e-commerce operation is impractical, as it's more important to get people into the brick-and-mortar stores, Crockett says. One exception is the company's recently launched online printing initiative, where customers can book large printing jobs. Still, Crockett notes, the customers have to go to the stores to pick up their orders.