GeoCities Inc has initiated what it says is its first major integrated communications program. Designed both as a corporate mark and for animated internet applications, the company’s new brand identity is a cartoon character based on the lower-case letter g. Apparently a number of riffs of the character have been designed, from whimsical to witty. The serious point behind the seemingly frivolous announcement is to convey the scope of GeoCities and its astonishing growth, the company said in a statement. A sample ad, expected to run from Tuesday December 1, reads: Every day, more people visit here than New York, Paris and London combined. Community web sites like GeoCities, EarthWeb and TheGlobe.com have enjoyed dramatically successful IPOs over the last few months. Now another contender, Xoom, is expected to enter the market. While GeoCities posted a mixed quarter, with high marketing costs canceling out high margins (CI No 3,522), Xoom has attracted favorable notice because it derives its revenues from reliable ecommerce sources rather than volatile ad sales. GeoCities needs to draw some of that attention away from its rivals: hence, perhaps, the witty, whimsical ‘g’?
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