Web Ads Assist E*Trade Branding Effort

E*Trade is deploying online ads as part of a new “Be E*traordinary” campaign that broke this week.

Omnicom’s BBDO New York created the integrated campaign, with online arm Atmosphere BBDO handling the interactive portion. It’s the first work Atmosphere has done for the client since being named its online agency of record earlier this year.

Creative includes three 300 x 250 pixel executions. As with the E*Trade TV spots, the creative centers on the asterisk in the company’s logo. In one of the ads, an asterisk shoots onto the page quickly, leaving a trail of smoke. A tagline says “Be Careful. It’s loaded.” In another, two halves of an asterisk click together, followed by the tagline “Be sure your seatbelt is fastened.” In the third, the E*Trade asterisk flicks across the screen in the manner of a stock ticker, with the tagline “Be faster than a speeding ticker.”

The media plan spans across 14 sites, including AOL, Yahoo, MSN and CNN Money. Spend was not disclosed, and the client could not immediately be reached for comment.

The ads are all promoting the upgraded Power E*Trade platform. As with the offline ads, they invoke the viewer to “Challenge the ordinary.” Another wave of product-specific advertising is planned for April.