FindWhat.com and Espotting to launch major rebrand campaign

US search marketing and e-commerce group FindWhat.com, which merged with Espotting last year, is changing its name to Miva. The new brand will be supported with a seven-figure marketing spend in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Miva, which claims to be the world’s largest independent pay-per-click (PPC) marketing network, is also launching its “white-label” PPC advertising platform in Europe.

In the US, white-label clients include Lycos and telecommunications giant Verizon, both of which use Miva to handle PPC sales on their websites.

The new name has been taken from Miva Corporation, an e-commerce developer the group bought in January 2004. In the UK, the six-week campaign will include print and online advertising, direct mail, ambient media and sponsorship. The first phase, “Symbol” illustrates different variations of the new Miva symbol with the tagline “A change is coming”. The second phase depicts the new brand name, created from a collage of Espotting logos with the new tagline “Miva means business”.

The rebrand, which should be complete by the end of June, will leave the company with three operating divisions. Miva Media, formerly the FindWhat.com and Espotting brands, will manage the company’s advertising networks as well as white-label initiatives. Miva Small Business, formerly Miva Corporation, will focus on developing integrated marketing and business packages based on the Miva Merchant e-commerce platform. Miva Direct, formerly Comet Systems, will provide desktop consumer software such as branded toolbars and search-related software applications.

The £135m merger between FindWhat.com and Espotting was completed just under a year ago (MW August 19, 2004). Espotting co-founder Seb Bishop is now Miva’s global chief marketing officer, while Espotting UK marketing director and co-founder Chrys Philalithes is European marketing director.