Ask Jeeves Produces New Ad Campaign
Ask Jeeves was set up in 1996 as an alternative to other search engines at the time. The general idea behind the website was to find results using natural language rather than having to worry about learning how to efficiently search on more complicated sites. The company also featured a butler called Jeeves on their front page that was removed in 2005 but brought back last year – in the UK at least.
The company is now launching a major new television ad campaign. Brand Republic note that the campaign will use 10 second adverts on multiple channels including the main commercial terrestrial channels between celebrity, cooking, beauty, health and DIY programs.
Jeeves was ditched five years ago but was brought back after surveys found that the Ask brand was much stronger with the inclusion of the character that had been with the website for nearly a decade. While Ask has never made the same sort of waves as Yahoo or Bing, it still commands just under 4% of the overall search market in America so it shouldn’t be ignored.
The overall aim of the brand and campaign is to promote Ask Jeeves as a website that can answer questions rather than one dedicated to pure search results like Google, and while this simplistic view of the net won’t appeal to everyone, casual users are likely to enjoy the idea of simply getting answers to their questions quickly and easily.
Ask Marketing director, Cesar Mascaraque said:
“Our users have emphatically told us that they find Jeeves enhances their search experience – adding character to what can otherwise be a very functional experience. They see Jeeves as approachable and trustworthy and, above all, helpful.”
Currently the Jeeves character is only accessible on the UK site, although international users are free to use the UK version instead.
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