Buy.com Spending Less, Giving Away More
George W. Bush and Al Gore have something in common with Yamaha Motor Corp.’s new line of 2000 motocross bikes: they want to win the big race.
In a new $1 million print campaign for longtime client Yamaha, Marshall Advertising & Design pokes fun at politics with eight spots that juxtapose new 2000 Yamaha motocross bikes onto political and campaign scenes.
One features Yamaha bikes on what is supposed to be political campaign buttons. Another shows a motocross bike jumping over the White House. And Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, appears to be touting a special financing deal available through December in another spot. The ads, targeted at teens to 35-year-olds, treat the bikes like candidates who have to outmuscle other manufacturer’s bikes in the competitive motocross industry.
“Yamaha’s strategy this year is leadership,” said Roger Feldman, copywriter and associate creative director. “They are introducing a new motocross bike this year and wanted to poke fun at politics by treating it like a new candidate.”
The question is, will the target audience get the ads? Feldman says the ads will stand out among other motocross advertisements that all depict images of guys on bikes. The ads will break this month in motorcycle enthusiast magazines.
Separately, Universal Electronics Inc., a Cypress-based maker of wireless remote control devices, awarded its ad account to Costa Mesa-based Marshall this month. The agency, which competed with a Minneapolis-based ad shop, will handle advertising, business-to-business, print and collateral, as well as update trade show exhibits and redesign the company’s Web site. Lawrence, Mayo & Ponder, Newport Beach, held the account a year earlier.
Adventures in Advertising
Buy.com Inc., Aliso Viejo, launched a new back-to-school promotion last week that will award three $10,000 cash scholarships from Microsoft Corp., three spring break vacations to Hawaii and four $5,000 Buy.com shopping sprees. Additionally, the company plans daily giveaways of backpacks filled with a $15 Buy.com gift certificate and a travel mug, as well as monthly prizes such as a Palm IIIc, a Sony Vaio notebook or desktop system, a Panasonic DVD player, JVC 27-inch TV, a Rio 500 Player and a Razor scooter. The promotion ends Sept. 22.
Buy.com, which hired Santa Monica-based Rubin Postaer and Associates in June, has scaled back on its media buys for traditional advertising. According to data compiled by Competitive Media Reporting, the online retailer has spent $1.8 million this year, including $743,400 for magazines, $59,000 for network TV and $123,300 for spot TV ads for January to May. A year ago, the company spent $4.6 million for the same period, including $1.4 million for magazines, $900,000 for network TV and $632,400 for spot TV.
For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Buy.com spent $14.2 million on media buys including $5.4 million on magazines, $1.6 million on network television and $2.9 million for spot TV ads.
The Internet retailer hasn’t been profitable since its inception with losses of $130.2 million for the year ended Dec. 31 and $66.5 million for the six months ended June 30.
Additionally, the online retailer recently entered a joint venture deal with United Airlines Inc. to create BuyTravel.com, a deal that includes an $18 million marketing commitment over three years.
Those click-through advertisements that pop-up on the computer screen and take consumers to an advertiser’s Web site accounted for 5.7% of Buy.com’s sales of $193.2 million for the second quarter and 5.3% of $400.8 million in sales for the six-month period ended June 30. That’s up from a year ago when those advertisements accounted for 2.2% of $129.2 million and 1.9% of $237.2 million in sales for the quarter and six-month period, respectively.
Additionally, the company’s sales and marketing efforts were $22 million for the recent quarter compared to $14.5 million for the same period a year earlier.
Bits and pieces:
Szenderski/Rohani Worldwide in Irvine was recently hired by Aeronet Worldwide, Irvine, to head up the shipping company’s PR efforts and campaigns for its expansion into new areas across the U.S. as well as in Latin America and Europe Hoffman York Pacific, Laguna Hills, has added Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles to its list of clients; the firm will handle the museum’s branding and promote its exhibitions. Since its opening here last spring, Hoffman York/Pacific has added clients including Sportshades.com, TourlandUSA.com and the Capistrano Festival Pacific Sunwear wannabes: Robinsons-May, North Hollywood, is launching a new five-month, $1 million hip advertising campaign called “The Spot” targeting members of Generation Y during the back-to-school and holiday seasons. The department store, which has six locations in OC, also is revamping its in-store visual advertising to target 12- to 24-year-olds, who collectively account for about 21% of sales. The North Hollywood-based chain’s in-house team did the creative work and Boston-based Chancellor Media Group scripted the TV and radio spots.
