SocialVibe, the pioneer in engagement advertising, today announced that it has partnered with the Ad Council and United Way to launch an online campaign in support of Hurricane Sandy victims.

As part of a nationwide initiative to galvanize Americans to contribute to the recovery, SocialVibe is leveraging its partnerships with premium online publishers including Pandora, World Golf Tour and Ovation to reach out to its 101 million U.S. audience as part of the effort.

SocialVibe is using its engagement platform to bring awareness to Sandy’s disaster and encourage Americans to help United Way by making a donation. The company has developed an interactive engagement ad unit, which displays a PSA that reinforces the power of a monetary donation and emphasizes the difference even a small donation can make. A poll question featured within the unit also inspires users to think about why they want to contribute, followed by information about United Way’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund and a click through that links them directly to the donation page.

The PSA was created using communications materials provided in a new online toolkit developed by a disaster relief coalition that includes the Center for International Disaster Information, the U.S. Agency for International Development, The UPS Foundation, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and InterAction. The toolkit was created to help organizations like United Way develop consistent messages that can be used in times of crisis to communicate to Americans that the most impactful contribution that they can make to ongoing relief and recovery efforts is a monetary donation to the organization of their choice.

To date, SocialVibe’s web-based campaign has resulted in thousands of visits to the webpage for the United Way’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund. SocialVibe plans to run the online campaign until November 28, 2012.

Hurricane Sandy severely affected portions of the Caribbean and Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S., where it impacted at least 24 states from Florida to New England, with particularly severe damage in New Jersey and New York. Its storm surge hit New York City on October 29, 2012, flooding streets, tunnels and subway lines and cutting power in and around the city. Officials estimate that 209 people were killed along the path of the storm, including 100 people in the U.S. Early damage estimates from the storm have topped $20 billion, with preliminary estimates of losses that include business interruption surpassing $50 billion--making it the second-costliest Atlantic hurricane behind only Hurricane Katrina. The storm left millions without power and thousands of people homeless. SocialVibe’s own New York offices were shut down for more than a week following the storm.

“SocialVibe is honored to be working with the Ad Council, United Way and our publisher partners in this worthy cause to support the victims of Hurricane Sandy,” said Todd Tappin, chief executive officer of SocialVibe. “Many of our fellow citizens have experienced profound loss as a result of this disaster and we hope this campaign will make it easier for those wishing to donate.”

Many of SocialVibe’s premium publisher partners waived their fees in support of this effort including World Golf Tour and Ovation.

“World Golf Tour is happy to provide an easy way for our online community of over five million players to help out United Way and victims of Hurricane Sandy,” said YuChiang Cheng, founder and chief executive officer of World Golf Tour.

SocialVibe combines the power of an extensive network of premium online and mobile partners, a large, 750x500 rich media ad unit and innovative new placements such as value exchange and interstitials to deliver proven results for brands and marketers. This combination is one of the most powerful in digital advertising, driving industry leading results such as five to 10 times the engagement of display, 60 seconds time spent, 80 percent-plus completion rates and more than 15 percent lift in key brand metrics such as consideration and purchase intent.

About SocialVibe

SocialVibe is a next-gen digital ad-tech company that powers engagement advertising for some of the world’s top brands. In today’s online landscape where consumer attention is hard to capture, SocialVibe’s interactive ads deliver better results through deeper engagement by delivering an improved consumer experience and more powerful brand interaction. As a pioneer and recognized leader in engagement marketing, SocialVibe enables advertisers to reach consumers where they are most passionately engaged across the web and mobile, including social, social gaming, content, music, video, Wi-Fi, travel and sports. SocialVibe is based in Los Angeles, California with offices in New York, Chicago and London. For more information, visit socialvibe.com or check out twitter.com/socialvibe.

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