GALLOP & GALLOP GOES WITH GREY
By Adnews Staff
Gallop & Gallop Worldwide Corp. of Toronto has hired GreyInteractive and GCI Communications to handle advertising and PR respectively for its Internet billboard service. Called the Virtual Billboard Network, the service is in its final testing stages and will be running shortly. Through the network, advertisers will be able to create and buy space for Internet billboard ads that will run on Web sites the network has signed up. The service provides downloadable software so advertisers can create their own ads. It also allows them to specify which interest groups they would like to reach and posts their ads to suitable sites. Advertisers are charged only for user requests. Chris Larsen, Gallop & Gallop Worldwide's vice-president and general manager, told Adnews the company approached four agencies with "a record of performance and achievement in Internet media" before deciding to go with GreyInteractive and GCI. GreyInteractive's campaign will be targeted at advertisers. It will use national print ads in advertising trade publications such as the National List of Advertisers and the Canadian Advertising Rates Directory. Also included will be a direct mail campaign slated for mid-January and promotional Internet ads which will appear on the Network's sites. GCI will handle all PR initiatives associated with the network. Both GreyInteractive and GCI are based in Toronto. Gallop & Gallop Worldwide Corp. is a subsidiary of Gallop & Gallop Advertising Inc. GreyInteractive and GCI are both divisions of Grey Advertising of Toronto.