WavePhore Inc. in Phoenix began a $2 million print and online advertising campaign to promote its new WaveTop consumer broadcasting service.
The WaveTop campaign, including a sweepstakes giveaway of a new Volkswagen Beetle, broke in The Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News and on
numerous consumer-oriented Web sites on June 25 to coincide with the launch of
Microsoft’s Windows 98. WaveTop’s software is included as a feature in the
Windows 98 operating system.
WaveTop, a free, advertising-supported broadcasting service delivers “best of
the Web” news and rich multimedia content through the television airwaves
directly to home PCs equipped with TV tuners. Consumers can purchase TV tuner
add-on cards at their local computer stores or online retailers for $79.
WaveTop, which began broadcasting content on April 6, 1998, said it currently reaches 85% of U.S. households and is expected to reach more than 99% of households by year-end.
The company said it expects to spend more than $2 million in the third quarter of
1998 on the consumer ad campaign developed by K2 Design in New York City. The campaign is
aimed at building consumer awareness and generating registered users.
WaveTop will also run a trade campaign promoting its ability to deliver high-
bandwidth multimedia ads for advertisers. WaveTop expects to extend both of
these advertising campaigns in the fourth quarter of 1998. In addition,
starting June 25, WaveTop branding was to appear in a separate multi-million
dollar Windows 98 ad campaign launched by Microsoft.
“Our advertising campaign is designed to spread the word that, for the first
time, consumers have fast, free and easy-to-use access to the best of the
World Wide Web without having to tie up a telephone line or deal with the
delays of using the Internet,” said David E. Deeds, chairman, president and
CEO of WavePhore. “At the same time, we want to tell interactive advertisers
about this exciting opportunity to break away from the bandwidth limitations
of the Internet to create truly compelling, media-rich ads on the WaveTop
network.”
Online banners, which began appearing on various Web sites on June 25, will
link directly to a WaveTop mini-site with a demonstration of
the WaveTop service and information on how it works, how consumers can access
it and the technical requirements for using it. Buys were made on AOL, ZD Net- At Home, Yahoo!, News.com, Wired News, Jumbo, CMP Net, CNN (Investors), Wall Street Journal Investors, NY Times, Infoseek, LookSmart, 100Hot, Win 98mag.com, ZD Net Windows 98 Microsite, Diamond Multimedia, Pointcast, NECX, CNet, Double Click Direct, and CliqTech.
The “Win With WaveTop” sweepstakes for a 1998 VW New Beetle will be featured
throughout the campaign for the third quarter. Users who install and register
to receive WaveTop automatically are entered into the sweepstakes.
