Online wine merchant Virtual Vineyards chose kirshenbaum bond & partners west in San Francisco to handle its account.
The agency will focus on the development of an advertising and branding
campaign to build awareness of Virtual Vineyards among consumers and to
increase its customer base. Billings were not disclosed.
“We hired kb&p west because of their strong experience in consumer brand
advertising and their innovative approach to creative,” said Rita Belle,
director of marketing and advertising at Virtual Vineyards. “We expect kb&p’s
experience and knowledge in these areas to provide us with a strong branding
and advertising campaign in 1999.”
Virtual Vineyards was launched in January 1995. It presents its wine and
specialty foods in an unpretentious way to simplify and demystify the wine-
buying process. Peter Granoff, Virtual Vineyards’ online “cork dork,” greets
each customer and guides them through the store, presenting detailed tasting
charts and notes to help them learn more about wine and food while making
their purchases.
“Buying wine can be intimidating, and there’s a massive opportunity for the
enthusiastic education that Virtual Vineyards does so well,” said Nigel Carr,
managing partner and general manager, kb&p west. “We’re thrilled to be taking
on the task of making them as famous offline as they are already on the Web.”
kirshenbaum bond & partners was
founded in 1987 by Richard Kirshenbaum and Jon Bond. kb&p has since grown to
become a communications company with more than 220 employees and offices in
New York and San Francisco, with billings reaching over $250 million. kb&p
west, which opened in August 1997, currently has 15 employees and $14 million
in billings.