Business Editors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2001
About, Inc. Will Be First Web Partner for
Consumer Marketing Vehicle
Eleven major consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) are among the first to advertise and promote their products online with Nuvisio Corporation's NestEggz(SM) service. NestEggz proprietary technology enables consumer products companies to broadly distribute fraud-protected coupons online, and effectively advertise on the Internet.
Kellogg USA, Kimberly-Clark, Mott's, Clairol, Fleischmann's, Birds Eye, Reckitt Benckiser, GlaxoSmithKline, Georgia Pacific, Borden Foods and Allergan are among the first CPGs leveraging the NestEggz service. Rather than promoting traffic to its own site, NestEggz will reach consumers through a network of high-traffic Web properties, starting with About, Inc., the Internet's leader in targeted marketing and the sixth largest Web property. By utilizing About's 700 topic-specific environments, CPGs will have the benefit of reaching interested consumers on the sites that directly relate to their products.
At launch, Nuvisio's agreements with CPGs cover more than 35 major brands and 90 consumer offers. NestEggz is delivering 40 million impressions per month and providing access to more than 25 million consumers.
"NestEggz has solved two major problems with online coupons -- scale of distribution and fraud -- while simultaneously creating a viable online marketing resource for consumer product marketers," said Dani Birnbaum, president and CEO of Nuvisio. "Our technology provides significant barriers to coupon fraud, and our Web partnerships create the huge audience that brand marketers expect from offline advertising. NestEggz turns an online user into an active consumer -- someone who actually buys products in the store."
Nuvisio uses the high traffic and popularity of content-driven Web sites to deliver a call-to-action to millions of consumers, a "gate keeper" that attracts consumers, enabling effective trial and loyalty programs, and improving the overall impact of online advertising and promotion. The company believes its new service will provide CPGs with a more efficient distribution system than Free Standing Inserts (FSIs), which represent approximately 90 percent of all coupon distribution, and current coupon Web sites. The NestEggz service also provides greater fraud protection than traditional coupons and other online coupons. In addition, NestEggz delivers the speed, efficiency, flexibility, targeting, and analysis that marketers have been expecting from the Internet.
Kenneth Leiter, Director of Adult Brands and eCommerce, Kellogg USA, said, "Nuvisio's innovative service allows Kellogg to connect with our online consumers in an effective and efficient way. We're pleased to provide consumers with promotions and special offers that are relevant to them."
Rose Grabowski, Vice President Value Development, Mott's Inc., said, "Mott's is teaming up with NestEggz because we are looking for new ways to reach our target audience. We think the NestEggz service is unique in its approach and can help us establish an ongoing relationship with millions of potential consumers."
"We are pleased to introduce NestEggz coupons to the About community," said John Caplan, President of About's Networks Group. "And we are particularly excited to help Nuvisio offer an effective solution for marketers that enables them to efficiently reach the `right' audience, and ultimately sell products."
The Opportunity
Consumer packaged goods companies account for approximately 18 percent of all traditional advertising, but only two percent of total online ad spending. Said Birnbaum, "These companies have avoided online advertising and promotion primarily because no existing vehicle has been able to move product off the shelves of supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers. With click-through rates for ad banners now less than one-half of one percent, consumer marketers don't believe in the effectiveness of most online advertising."
Preliminary research from a soft-launch of NestEggz in March, however, shows strong consumer interest. Certain NestEggz offers are generating click-through rates approaching four percent and, on average, click-through rates for NestEggz coupon ads are 3 1/2 times better than other CPG banner ads. Eighty-one percent of NestEggz users have said they are likely or very likely to use NestEggz coupons again. And nearly 50 percent of consumers say they have redeemed their NestEggz coupons.
How NestEggz Works
STEP 1: Click and Print -- Consumers click on coupon banners on high-traffic Web sites any time of day, any day of the week. They see "dynamic" content (e.g. advertising or recipes), select from leading brand offers and print out their coupons. First-time users register for a personal online NestEggz Account where their coupon savings will be deposited, earning 20 percent interest.
STEP 2: Shop -- Consumers shop with NestEggz coupons at their local store, just as they do with traditional coupons.
STEP 3: Processing - Retailers handle NestEggz coupons just like regular coupons, and send them to their regular processing center. The processing center passes the coupon barcode data on to Nuvisio.
STEP 4: Save Up or Withdraw Cash -- Nuvisio uses the barcode data to validate the purchase and activate the full cash value of the coupon in an interest-bearing, online NestEggz Account. Users can watch their savings add up, earning 20 percent interest, or withdraw their cash whenever they want.
About Nuvisio Corporation
Nuvisio Corporation enables Consumer Packaged Goods companies (CPGs) to effectively advertise and promote their brands by harnessing the power of the Internet. For CPGs, Nuvisio enhances the ROI of Internet marketing. For Web sites and portals, Nuvisio provides access to many of the largest advertising budgets in America. Nuvisio's concept has already been validated with contracts from leading packaged goods companies representing 90 brand offers. These offers will be distributed over the Web, with top-10 Media Metrix sites under contract, representing over 25 million unique users and 40 million impressions per month.
Established in January 2000, Nuvisio's investors include Jerusalem Venture Partners and Toshiba Corporation. Nuvisio's senior management has significant experience in consumer packaged goods marketing combined with the programming talent of former senior technology officers from Israeli Army Intelligence. Nuvisio has offices in New York, Cincinnati, Chicago and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit http://www.nesteggz.com or http://www.nuvisio.com.
About
The Human Internet(TM)
About, a division of PRIMEDIA Inc., is the Internet's most complete targeted environment for users and marketers. With more than 700 topic sites, each overseen by a professional Guide, the About Network provides customers with an experience unlike any other on the Web -- including the Internet's best link directories, original content, community features and commerce opportunities. Media Metrix (January 2001) ranks About.com as the 6th largest Web Property. More information on the company can be found on its Web site at http://about.com/
