Knight Ridder selected EURO RSCG/DSW Partners to create, develop and
execute a marketing campaign to build awareness for its Real Cities network of regional
information hubs on the Web.
DSW Partners will use primarily off-line media to expand awareness and drive
traffic to the RealCities hubs, beginning with Miami.com, BayArea.com,
TwinCities.com, and DFW.com.
The regional campaign will launch in November with print, followed by
outdoor, radio, Web advertising and TV beginning in early 2000. Spending was
not disclosed.
“Our strategy will leverage off-line and online media to drive traffic to
KnightRidder.com’s regional ‘city.com’ online properties,” said David Boede,
partner at DSW Partners.
“The time is now for KnightRidder.com to lock in its dominant role as the
premier provider of local online information and build our brands in our
markets,” said Dan Finnigan, president of KnightRidder.com. “This marketing
campaign is designed to do just that.”
Real Cities’ regional hubs offer locally catalogued Web directories supported
by a national database to help users find information quickly and easily.
Other services include search, community publishing, e-commerce marketplaces,
free e-mail, 24-hour national and local news and a one-time registration
service for use on all Real Cities sites and online services.
Each ‘city.com’ hub integrates the hometown Knight Ridder newspaper into the
network.
Knight Ridder recently launched a new Internet business unit, KnightRidder.com, to consolidate the
company’s presence on the Web.
DSW Partners serves as a lead agency and West Coast presence for EURO RSCG
Worldwide, the world’s fifth-largest advertising network with 176 agency
offices in 72 countries.
