BOB NEWHART STARS IN STAMPS.COM’S NEW INNOVATIVE ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
Multi-Million Dollar Campaign Kicks-off Today With Television and Print Buys
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – October 18, 1999 – Stamps.com™ (NASDAQ: STMP), the leader in Internet Postage(TM), today announced that Bob Newhart, the beloved star of such hit television shows as “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart,” is the company’s new spokesperson. Newhart will star in an innovative television and print advertising campaign for Stamps.com that launches in select markets today before rolling out nationally at the end of the year.
Already approved by the U.S. Postal Service, Stamps.com harnesses the power of the Internet to allow consumers to print postage any time of the day or night using only a computer, printer and Internet connection. With Stamps.com’s convenient, secure and cost-effective service, customers will never have to rush to the post office again. Scheduled to launch this month, Stamps.com already has more than 100,000 people pre-registered for its service.
In the new campaign –created by Wieden & Kennedy, the agency which developed the famed Nike advertisements — Newhart portrays a fictional small businessman, Frank Mettman Jr., who has begrudgingly taken over his father’s company, the Mettman Manufacturing Company. The company is known for its ill-conceived products that carry the risk of serious physical injury and Frank Jr. is faced with turning the ship around. One of his first steps is signing up for Stamps.com’s service to help get all his recall notices, apology letters and “get well” cards out to his customers. Stamps.com soon becomes the only thing that goes right in his business.
“This campaign breaks the mold of traditional dot com advertising and, in an innovative, sitcom-like style, communicates the ease and efficiency of Stamps.com’s service,” said Chris Hylen, senior vice president of marketing for Stamps.com. “It is designed to connect directly with our primary small business target market and convey that Stamps.com understands the challenges of running a small business, particularly as it relates to administrative tasks such as postage. Newhart is known for his roles portraying small businessmen, and through his comedy genius will be able to create empathy with the real-life small office/home office users that we hope to make Stamps.com customers.”
Stamps.com’s multi-million dollar campaign kicks-off with a 60-second TV spot that will begin airing today in select markets before going national at the end of the year. Additionally, the campaign will include radio and print ads, which will appear in publications for upcoming issues.
About Stamps.com
Founded in 1996, Santa Monica-based Stamps.com is the only commercially approved true Internet Postage service. The company’s innovative technology eliminates the need for specialized hardware by giving customers the flexibility to print postage over the Internet – securely, accurately and fast. Through partnerships with major companies like 3M, America Online, IBM, Microsoft, Office Depot and Quicken.com, Stamps.com has tremendous reach into the small office/home office and consumer markets. More information about the company can be found at sdcmainprod.wpengine.com.
About Wieden & Kennedy
Wieden & Kennedy, founded in Portland, Oregon, is one of the largest independently owned advertising agencies with offices in New York, Amsterdam, London and Tokyo. A full-service, creatively led communications company, Wieden & Kennedy has helped build some of the strongest global brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, ESPN and Miller Brewing Company. Recently, Wieden & Kennedy added AltaVista, PowerBar, Audi, Stamps.com and HomeGrocer.com, among others, to its roster.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, made from time to time by Stamps.com, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 1999, and Stamps.com’s prospectus, related to its initial public offering, that was filed with the SEC on June 25, 1999.
Internet Postage, Stamps.com and the Stamps.com logo are trademarks of Stamps.com Inc. All other brands and names are property of their respective owners.