Yahoo! Plugs Targeting Power

Web portal Yahoo! will tout its ability to target online ads to specific audiences in a new trade ad campaign aimed at marketers, media buyers, and ad agencies--set to launch today online and Jan. 17 in print.

With this effort, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company hopes to attract marketers that have not yet embraced online advertising, said Yahoo! executive Jerry Shereshewsky. "We're reaching for companies waiting for validation of the online space," said Shereshewsky, dubbed by Yahoo! "ambassador plenipotentiary to Madison Ave."

The campaign will run online in publications including WSJ.com, NYT.com, various advertising trades, and on the Yahoo! network. Print versions will also run in advertising trade magazines--but, said Shereshewsky, "the centerpiece of the campaign is online." Yahoo! declined to provide its budget for the media spend.

Yahoo! plans to use domain targeting with the campaign, which will involve displaying ads to visitors coming from Internet protocol addresses of specific companies--including ad agencies, clients, and prospective clients.

Conceived by WPP's Soho Square, the online campaign features Yahoo! clients wearing t-shirts with specific ad-related messages. For instance, one online ad--a large rectangle--stars Pepsi-Cola North America Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Dave Burwick wearing a t-shirt that says "Fizz Engine."

More text appears when visitors roll the mouse over the rectangle. For example, when the mouse rests on the t-shirt, a cartoon-style balloon appears that reads: "With innovative ad units and deep customer insights, Yahoo! gives Dave's sales more fizz." Another ad features Dwight Caines, senior vice president, worldwide digital marketing strategy at Sony Pictures. Executives from other companies including Intel, Sheraton, and Chrysler will also appear in the campaign.

Shereshewsky said that the text will also highlight Yahoo!'s behavioral targeting capabilities. For instance, to attract automobile manufacturers, Yahoo! will emphasize that it knows when consumers have recently looked at cars online, even if those consumers are currently looking at stock prices, said Shereshewsky.

Soho Square created the print version of the campaign, while Yahoo! created the online ads in-house, based on Soho Square's concept.

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