MEDIA-I: Yahoo rides out to woo new users

<p>TAIPEI: Yahoo!Kimo has launched a six-week campaign to brand the </p><p>integrated site as well as encourage first-time users to venture onto </p><p>the web. It is the first major brand campaign by a portal in Taiwan this </p><p>year and follows Yahoo's acquisition of the local portal Kimo in a </p><p>US$126 million deal a year ago. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Bus imagery is used extensively in the television, print and </p><p>below-the-line campaign created by the client and D'Arcy. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The portal wants everyone to get on the bus - its metaphor for the </p><p>internet - in line with one of the campaign's objectives of encouraging </p><p>first-time users to try the web. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the creative, the portal is a bus and users appear at its windows, </p><p>each enjoying a particular service. Two popular features - email and </p><p>search - were singled out and demystified. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In both television and print executions, a mean-looking gangster proudly </p><p>proclaims: "I sent an e-mail". In other creative executions, a group of </p><p>uniformed policewomen coo with delight as they 'search' for a famed </p><p>cartoon character's website. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Four promotions will be rolled out as part of the campaign, including </p><p>online and offline events. The portal will also have a bus driving </p><p>around Taipei over the next three months. The bus has 10 ADSL-equipped </p><p>computers, and people will be encouraged to board the bus to surf the </p><p>web. "This bus will show them that the internet can be part of their </p><p>life," said Yahoo!Kimo marketing director Charlene Hung. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The campaign's second goal is integration. Hung said: "Both companies </p><p>have strong brand equity in Taiwan, but we couldn't keep all the </p><p>elements of their logos." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Based on focus group findings, it was decided that the English name </p><p>Yahoo would be combined with Kimo's Chinese characters. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hung said Yahoo!Kimo was now a single site, but users could access it </p><p>from either address. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>