Imagine the scenario: 50,000 City traders are not being targeted by
a specialised ad medium. Crazy? Neil Morgan, managing director of
e-space, thought so.
In 1994 he took over the running of Reuters’ intranet service - which
sits on every trader’s desk -rebranded it Reuters City Screen and began
a ’grass roots’ marketing drive. This involved handing out leaflets
outside Bank and Liverpool Street stations at 6.30am, and walking around
the Square Mile sporting a sandwich board.
Rather than just slotting ads around reports on the price of oranges in
Brazil, Morgan also hired a team of journalists to spice up the
editorial content. The hard work paid off. BMW, Eurostar and British
Airways signed up and ad revenue rocketed to pounds 50,000 by the second
year - no mean feat considering the entire online ad market was worth
pounds 40,000 in 1995.
Reuters City Screen, which Morgan still manages, now has more than
20,000 users, quite a leap from the 100 who logged on in 1994.
