The bigger audience has helped the site bring in more advertising revenue, which grew 24 percent between the third quarter of 2001 and 2002. The Journal Online, which has some free affiliated sites, received about 1.2 million unique visitors in September, according to Comscore Media Metrix. Dow Jones does not break out the site's actual revenue, instead including it with licensing and business development under consumer electronic publishing.
To increase its audience, the Journal Online is relying heavily on humor. Using loud colors and busy design, the online ads depict a decidedly irreverent vision of free financial sites.
Pointless headlines
One element is a mock free site (www.biz-o-rama.com), with headlines like "Computers to Get Faster, Says PC Industry Veteran" and "Sources Say: No Changes Ahead."
"Free sites are great for a lot of things," Schulman said. "The kinds of sites we've chosen to use reflect the kind of people we think should also be using the Journal Online."
The humorous campaign is aimed at younger consumers than the typical reader of The Wall Street Journal, said Allan Charles, president and chief creative officer at Trahan, Burden & Charles in Baltimore, which created it. Neither the Journal Online nor the agency would disclose the campaign's budget.
And its jibes are not aimed at any site in particular, Charles insisted. "We're really using a broad brush here."
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