About.com, a unit of The New York Times Company, has launched a new ad campaign aimed at marketers. The campaign departs from its previous tagline, “Guidance, not guesswork,” which effectively conveyed About.com’s message of offering reliable information compared to competitors like Associated Content (recently acquired by Yahoo).
The new tagline is “Need. Know. Accomplish.” The ads will highlight the information and advice the site offers through its network of carefully chosen subject matter experts. They will emphasize About.com’s ability to engage consumers from the “moment of need” and hold their attention as they use the site to achieve their search-driven goals.
Unlike previous About.com campaigns, the new ads rely heavily on animated graphics instead of photography.
The campaign comes to life through advertising executions that present a series of moments in which a family of characters personify the range of needs that an About.com user encounters each day. Some of these needs are featured in over 30 individual creative concepts, ranging from “Lower my cholesterol” to “Find family beach activities.” The creative will run on out-of-home and digital advertising platforms for the duration of 2010, including baseball stadiums, taxi tops, phone kiosks and more. Source: nytco.com
About.com was one of the biggest and oldest web sites on the internet. Here is About’com’s journey of evolution to oblivion
Early Days (1996-2000s)
- Founded in 1996 by Scott Kurnit as a directory of websites.
- Pioneered the concept of “guide sites” with user-generated content from experts in various fields.
- Grew rapidly and became a popular online resource for information on a wide range of topics.
- Tagline: “Guidance, not guesswork” (possibly in use during this period)
Acquisition and Growth (2000s-2011)
- Acquired by The New York Times Company in 2005 for $410 million. (Change in punctuation)
- Continued to expand content and user base.
- In March 2007, About.com’s traffic was measured at 33.5 million unique visitors. (Changed “patronage” to “traffic” for clarity)
- In April 2011, Irvine launched the About en Español website, which was About’s first-ever Spanish-language channel. (Changed “patronage” to “launched”)
- Faced competition from other online information sources like Wikipedia and social media.
A New Pathway (2012-Present)
- In August 2012, About.com became a property of IAC. IAC is currently comprised of category-leading businesses including Angi Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI), Dotdash Meredith, and Care.com, among many others ranging from early stage to established businesses. IAC is headquartered in New York City with business locations worldwide. (Changed “today” to “currently” for better tense)
- In May 2017, IAC announced that they had renamed About.com to Dotdash.
Updated on March 25, 2024
