New York Times Digital Launches Campaign for Abuzz

In its first effort to market Abuzz, the community and knowledge-sharing property it bought back in July 1999, New York Times Digital, the newspaper company’s digital arm, on Monday kicked off an advertising campaign.

The ads, created by Ogilvy & Mather, will have online, outdoor, and print incarnations, and will focus on the knowledge-sharing aspects of the site.

Abuzz, which is currently found on NYTimes.com, Boston.com, NYToday.com, GolfDigest.com and WineToday.com, allows users to participate in discussions, ask questions, and answer questions, about topics that interest them.

“Abuzz represents the next step in the evolution of the New York Times Digital network, serving as the ‘intelligent ingredient’ that brings together the New York Times audience with that of other high-quality content and information-rich sites,” said Martin Nisenholtz, chief executive officer of New York Times Digital.

“We will continue this campaign into the fall, as we extend Abuzz across a network of partner sites that complement our strategy and audience.”

The company is leveraging the print properties of its parent company for the campaign. Full-page, four-color teaser ads will appear in the New York Times and the Boston Globe. The ads show a variety of people from across the country raising their hands, with copy like “Max knows” and “Anne knows,” highlighting the site as a network of knowledgeable people.

On August 2, a four-page, four-color insert, will break in the New York Times and the Boston Globe, followed by placement in The New York Times Magazine. Simultaneously, outdoor advertising will appear in both the New York and Boston markets.

“We are fortunate to be able to leverage the power of the New York Times and the Boston Globe to introduce this campaign,” said Nisenholtz.

“In addition, using our own owned-and-operated sites as the foundation for this network is another great example of how a click and brick company can effectively utilize established brands to bring a new brand to life.”

The online portion of the campaign will feature interactive banners showing specific questions that link to a Web page, allowing people to experience the different aspects of Abuzz. The ads will appear on a variety of health, business, travel, entertainment and city sites from August through September.