Soon after Google released an ad showcasing Chrome’s abilities, its rival, Yahoo, launched a the second phase of its $100 million “It’s You” campaign. The video, developed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, appeared on the Yahoo corporate blog on May 5 in the post “A Sneak Peek of Exciting & Fresh Stuff from Yahoo!.” The new round of the campaign will cost $75 million to $85 million and will be launched on May 18.
The company is trying to do everything to save itself from a crisis, while the rival is prospering. The first phase of the campaign was launched in September, but the movement turned to be a way less effective than it was expected. The company commissioned Ogilvy & Mather to develop an impressing project, and spent between $15m and $25m on its implementation, but it didn’t work as expected for the U.S. The number of unique visitors had dropped 2.6 per cent to 155.6 million in April, according to comScore.
The new video begins with an almost blank page featuring a search box (it looks like the one of Google). Then the emptiness is being filled with various icons of popular social features. The voiceover says, «There’s nothing to look at but a box and a button. When you look at this homepage, nothing looks back at you. You come to this place so you can leave.» The goal is to show that Yahoo is «a place you want you stay» and allows you to feel there at home with a quick access to social websites’ feeds and email. Then the voiceover adds that Yahoo! is «the centre of your online life.»
In an interview to Brand Week, Elisa Steele, Yahoo! VP and CMO, when asked about Google’s «presence» in the ad, said, «It’s one video in a series of videos that are going to be released. I can tell you that not all of the videos take that approach. But this was an expression between us and Goodby about how we wanted to express the spirit of who Yahoo is. Since it’s the only video that’s out now, it’s getting discussed as the campaign strategy, but it’s not. I think you’ll find over the next few [executions] that Yahoo’s expression through video will be very interesting, thought provoking and fresh.»
Video from the first round