Gitam-BBDO is mounting a serial campaign for the new MSN Hebrew portal which Microsoft has launched in conjunction with Internet Gold. The campaign budget is $1 million.
"The opening of Channel 2 caused a revolution in the advertising industry, and the opening of MSN in Hebrew will engender another revolution," says Gitam general manager Mody Kidon. "The portal’s launch is expected to bring about a change in Israelis’ surfing habits, and this in turn will mean a revolution in the local advertising world in terms of how far advertisers see the Internet as an attractive medium."
The Hebrew version of MSN was set up as a partnership between Microsoft (49%) and Israeli company Internet Gold (51%). The Hebrew portal is a branch of the global portal operating in seventeen languages in thirty-one countries.
MSN Israel uses Double-Click’s system for planning and controlling Internet advertising and segmenting target audiences.
MSN Israel believes the new portal will lead to larger numbers of surfers thanks to its variety of content and ease of use. "If, up to now, advertisers thought of the Internet as serving a particular target group, from now on that picture is about to change," says MSN Israel manager Nava Mor. She said the site was set up as a mega-portal with the aim of turning the Internet into a mass consumption product. It includes 24 content sites, among them Nana, Analyst, Globes, Haaretz, Galei Zahal Army Radio, and Israel Online (IOL). The portal’s format eliminates the need to type Web addresses or navigate different menus on each site. Surfers can personalize the portal according to their needs.
Besides content, the site provides tools for creating a personal communications center, making it possible to contact friends and colleagues, among other things via a Hebrew Hotmail.
MSN was set up by Microsoft in 1995, and has become one of the most popular Internet sites in the US. 52.7% of US surfers visited MSN.com in February.
The local launch campaign carries the slogan "The Internet Starts Here". It will include television and radio slots and Web banners.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on April 11, 2000