Excite@Home Touts Personalization in Advertising Campaign

Portal and access firm Excite@Home (ATHM) on Monday kicked off a television and outdoor advertising effort, which highlights the personalization features and utility of the Excite service.

The “Turn You On” campaign was created by McCann Worldgroup’s Amster Yard, with media buying duties handled by Starcom-Worldwide.

The ads feature former World Pro Skateboarding champion and surfer Steve Olson as “Mr. Lucky,” who finds his way out of difficult situations by using his My Excite service.

The first shows Olson skating toward his wife, then pulling out a bouquet of flowers for Mother’s Day. He remembered the occasion because of his My Excite Planner. The others show Mr. Lucky surfing and golfing — activities enhanced by features on My Excite.

The campaign launches with TV spots in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle. The ads will run during season finales of popular shows like Friends, Frasier, ER, Spin City, Ally McBeal and X-Files.

Outdoor executions will appear on airport vans, taxi tops, bus fronts, and phone kiosks, followed by a splash in New York City’s Times Square.

Spending for the campaign wasn’t disclosed, but company officials described it as a “multi-million dollar” campaign.

The launch of the ad campaign coincides with the launch of a teen community site on the Excite service, called Zink. It’s an effort by the company to capture the Web-savvy and fast-growing teen demographic — girls and boys between 13 and 20 years old.