Beenz.com has announced that it has appointed FCB Worldwide to
launch the company's first ever global advertising campaign.
Banks Hoggins O'Shea/FCB (BHO/FCB) in London will be the agency's lead
office on the account, setting the strategy for the campaign.
The account will focus on building awareness of the beenz brand and
increasing the rapidly-growing number of beenz consumer accounts, which
currently stands at more than three million worldwide.
BHO/FCB will handle Beenz.com's worldwide creative and advertising
strategy.
Leading up to the launch of the campaign, Beenz and BHO/FCB will be
working on a programme of strategic alliances.
To set the example for the viability of beenz as a currency, the agency
will receive part of its fee from Beenz.com in the form of beenz - the
client's currency on the Web.
Key to the global advertising campaign is maximising the return on
investment per advertising dollar spent by using the Internet as a key
communications medium with consumers.
An integral part of Beenz.com's global advertising campaign will be to
use sophisticated viral marketing techniques which will increase
consumer acquisition rates and word-of-mouth advertising.
Nicolas de Santis, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer for
Beenz.com, said, "Research has shown that traditional advertising by
dotcoms have failed because they have not been strategic. They have
simply 'thrown money' at the media.
"Beenz.com has grown its consumer base to date by working with its
participating merchants, and through public relations, guerrilla tactics
and smart marketing."
A recent survey by market research group Greenfield Online showed that
Internet companies spending up to 70 per cent of their revenue on
advertising might still not be creating brand awareness.
The survey asked consumers to list five names that came to mind when
thinking about ecommerce and the Internet. The results showed many
Internet firms were not top-of-mind or easily recognisable, despite
large advertising budgets.
