Whisper Editions – New York Launch

Whisper Editions, a New York based online business that sells exclusive, limited edition pieces from artists was launched in 2013 by Judith Puckett-Rinella, former senior photo editor of the New York Times. They needed a cost-effective way to promote the venture, increase website traffic and newsletter subscribers, and ultimately, generate sales.

While Whisper Editions ships all over the world, Up Marketing set up an initial pilot Display campaign geo-targeting the U.S., the market they can most readily serve. The campaign was separated into two target groups: limited edition jewelry and art photography pieces. For the jewelry group, Up Marketing used contextual keywords to display ads on websites regularly visited by those who demonstrated an interest in designer, luxury jewelry. We also used contextual keywords to target shoppers actively researching jewelry sources.

For the photography group, our contextual keywords targeted collectors, and included the names of Whisper Editions’ photographers and the galleries where they had exhibited to attract those already familiar with these artists’ works.  Mid-campaign, we switched the focus from the collected artists’ works to a specific artist, Clark Little, a renowned photographer who provided Whisper Editions with one his trademark limited edition “wave” photos and had a show opening in Montreal. Clark used this as a PR opportunity to open up the Canadian market while Up Marketing’s Display campaign promoted Whisper Editions’ offering online.

Over the course of the campaign, Whisper ads appeared on over 2,600 sites including: nytimes.com, therichest.com, gearculture.com and foxnews.com. In a 4-week period, the campaign generated over 2,800 clicks and over 500,000 impressions – for a fraction of the cost of a single ad in New York Times. Supported by Whisper editions’ PR efforts and the number of Whisper Editions subscribers tripled during our 8-week campaign. In addition to the visits from shoppers and new subscribers (90% of whom were first-time visitors), the impressions exposed Whisper Editions to hundreds of thousands of self-qualified prospects across the United States.