New GO.com Marketing Campaign Guides Consumers to a Better Time by Showing Them "Where to Look"; Comprehensive Campaign Leverages the Offline Assets of The Walt Disney Company.

Entertainment Editors

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2000

GO.com (www.go.com), one of the leading verticals of the Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIG), has announced plans for a major consumer marketing campaign that leverages the offline assets of The Walt Disney Company, highlighted by a year-long, national advertising campaign themed, "Where to Look."

The overall campaign, sized in the tens of millions of dollars, marks the first time in a full year that GO.com has undertaken any significant marketing outreach to consumers.

The creative elements of the advertising component emphasize GO.com's new role as a lifestyle Web guide and builds on the site's tagline, "Your Guide to a Better Time," through print, radio, television and online media.

"GO.com was reinvented for an audience that is demographically broad and psychologically rich. Our new campaign reaches out to that diverse audience through broad delivery -- online and off -- across all media and through many of the Walt Disney Company's complimentary properties," said Doug De Vito, vice president of marketing for GO.com. "The creative elements of the advertising campaign underscore how consumers can use GO to simplify their efforts to make the most of their free time, through a combination of GO's powerful search capabilities and focused content."

The campaign targets men and women, ages 18-49. The audience was determined based on research that this segment represents the largest and most influential seekers of free-time information, products and services. Moreover, this target audience aligns with the key advertiser demographics of the Internet and television networks.

The campaign leverages GO.com's unique positioning and conveys that "There's Fun Stuff All Around You, You Just Have to Know Where to Look," a theme that is carried through all creative and co-marketing activities. By going online with GO.com, consumers will have a transformational experience and will fully leverage GO's unique technology to make the most of their free time. The branding campaign was created in conjunction with Cliff Freeman & Partners in New York.

"The visually dramatic, emotionally appealing creative executions aim to capture the notion that surprising finds are everywhere -- you just have to know where to look," said Cliff Freeman, founder of Cliff Freeman & Partners. "At GO.com, visitors can locate just about anything -- from entertainment and sports to stock picks and even quilting information. It's a campaign with legs, and we're looking forward to building the concept and making it memorable."

The campaign includes the following creative:

 -- Print (2 executions) -- "Subway," one- and two-page spreads, and "Elevator," one- and two-page spreads  -- Television (4 executions)  -- Radio (3 executions)  -- Online - three campaigns with specific messages targeted to demographically-focused audiences 

The initial, year-long program began with regional efforts this month. Radio spots began running the week of Oct. 16, in select markets. The print campaign began Oct. 26, in a special section of "Entertainment Weekly." Additional print ads will also begin appearing in a range of general interest consumer magazines. Television ads begin this week. A heavy national emphasis, including all media outlets, begins in January through March 2001.

Significantly, related co-marketing efforts are focused on reaching a substantial number of the 70 million U.S. consumers that The Walt Disney Company reaches every day. Specific efforts include: co-marketing with ABC Television, ESPN, Walt Disney World and Disney hotel properties in Orlando, Flor.; the soon-to-open Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif.; and one of the leading Videotron screens in New York's Times Square.

For example, GO.com will be featured as "Good Morning America's" official travel segment partner and will be highlighted on GMA as the sponsor of 20 travel segments throughout the year. At Walt Disney World and Disney California Adventure, GO.com will be incorporated into merchandising co-promotions, including park and hotel in-room advertising. (It is estimated that Disney reaches 10 million consumers through its theme parks and hotel properties.)

Go.com was recently re-launched on Oct. 17 as a breakthrough "guide to the Web" designed to help online users find comprehensive information on entertainment, sports, news, family activities, travel and other leisure pursuits.

The Walt Disney Internet Group

Walt Disney Internet Group (NYSE:DIG) manages some of the Internet's most popular Web sites, including ABC.com, ABCNEWS.com, ABCSports.com, Disney.com, Disney Auctions, Disneystore.com, DisneyTravel.com, ESPN.com, Family.com, GO.com, Movies.com, Mr. Showbiz, NASCAR Online, NBA.com and NFL.com. The Internet Group also includes The Walt Disney Company's direct marketing business. Steve Bornstein is chairman of Walt Disney Internet Group, which is headquartered in North Hollywood, Calif., with operations in Sunnyvale, Calif., Seattle, New York, Bristol, Conn., and London. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.dig.com.