Direct-sales company Amway Canada has shifted 100% of its annual advertising budget to online media, the company said Wednesday. Microsoft appears to be the largest beneficiary of the move – its MSN properties will become the main vehicle to promote the company’s services.
The consumer-facing campaign will run on English and French MSN Lifestyle pages as well as on Skype throughout 2013. It also includes an exclusive title sponsorship of three custom MSN pages. Content will be provided by Amway Canada as well as MSN editors.
Creative elements will include custom backgrounds on MSN, polling features, Facebook module integrations along with Skype homepage masthead takeovers. All creative for the campaign was developed internally. High Road Communications is handling PR.
The decision to allot the majority of ad dollars to MSN was both a matter of scope and accessibility. “From a media planning standpoint, you can increase your reach with online execution, especially because our target market of Generation X and Generation Y are serious online users,” said Andrew Young, digital media coordinator at media and communications agency PHD. “And MSN gave us great reach across both English and French Canada.”
While online has typically accounted for a large portion of the company’s ad spending, this is the first time Amway Canada has gone 100% digital, said Angela Abdallah, Amway Canada’s national marketing manager.. Since Amway products can only be purchased online or through independent businesses and not in traditional stores, it made sense fully commit, she said.
“We have a limited budget, so going 100% digital allows us extensive reach and more longevity in the market. It also recognizes the important role the internet plays in purchasing decisions these days.”
The wholly digital approach and campaign concept began with a recommendation from PHD, which wanted to increase the brand’s awareness and better reach its target audiences of Generations X and Y.
