Tribal DDB Rolls Out Best Buy Banner Ads

Brandweek, Oct 23, 2000 by Ann M. Mack

Complementing the first TV and print campaigns launched last week for BestBuy.com, interactive agency Tribal DDB has innundated the Web with banner ads aimed at driving traffic to the consumer electronics online store. Draped in the characteristic Best Buy colors of bright yellow, black and red, the banners promote particular products, offer special deals or tout the click-and-bricks nature of the business.

One banner ad, for instance, advises the consumer to "Buy It Here," as the Best Buy.com logo appears. The words then fade and are replaced with "Return It Here," as the dot-com logo revolves to reveal the traditional Best Buy tag. The banners emphasize the point that while consumers shop online, if there are problems, they can return or exchange products at one of Best Buy's nearly 400 brick-and-mortar stores, said Bettina Hanna, director of brand marketing and acquisition for BestBuy.com. "Many times, [with online retailers,] there's nowhere to go if there's a problem. There's nowhere to return or exchange," said Hanna. "They make you jump through a million hoops."

Consistent with this premise, both the print and TV campaigns, created by the New York office of DDB Worldwide, reinforce BestBuy.com's ability to leverage the retail stores for the conveniences consumers want, such as returns, exchanges and after-sales services. Carrying the tagline "Now wasn't that easy?" the ads also seek to relay the site's "simple functionality."

Since the summer relaunch of Best Buy.com, Tribal DDB, the interactive offspring of DDB Worldwide, has already produced more than 500 banner ads--an unusually high number compared to the average of two or three per campaign. They plan even more banners for the upcoming holiday season, reported Steve Hicks, creative director at Tribal DDB New York. The creative units reflect the traditional cycles of the retail world, he added.

While close to 20 percent of the online ads focus on BestBuy.com services, the remaining 80 percent parallel promos found in Sunday newspaper inserts. To push sales in a certain category, for instance, a banner ad, starring a man hugging a PC, offers free shipping on all computer products and reads "True love delivered right to your door."

Looking to attract a broad demographic, Seattle-based Avenue A, which leads online media activities for BestBuy.com, placed banners on sites including MSN.com, ZDNet and ESPN.com. The e-tailer, which awarded its creative account to DDB New York and Tribal DDB last May, split billings of $50 million evenly between online and offline efforts, reported a BestBuy.com rep. Ad responsibilities for BestBuy.com's brick-and-mortar counterpart are handled by Best Buy's inhouse agency.