Productopia Kicks Off $4 Million Campaign

Product information and advice site Productopia on Monday launched a $4 million print, television, and outdoor campaign, which will appear in San Francisco and New York.

Instead of choosing an agency, Productopia selected ad professionals and assembled a “virtual agency” to develop this campaign.

The television ads portray common shopping situations, in which consumers — who have not used Productopia — are confused and frustrated because they don’t know what to buy.

One spot features a woman who is overwhelmed by the number of mountain bikes she must choose from. Another spot shows a man struggling to pick a coffee maker, as more informed shoppers choose easily.

“We developed an ad campaign that would reflect our values. Like the site, it had to be simple, clear, modern and entertaining, because finding and buying products should be fun, not a chore,” said Mark Brutten, vice president of brand marketing for Productopia.

“Our approach was to avoid the usual excessiveness that characterizes advertising for dot-coms.”