Evite hands UK brand launch to EdenCancan

Evite is looking to replicate its success in the US, where it has 11 million users, in the UK and opted to sign EdenCancan following a competitive pitch that is understood to have involved at least two other agencies.

Nick Fulford, Eden Cancan director, declined to disclose details of the fees, but said that Evite was now the agency’s biggest client and that total promotional activity is set to exceed £250,000.

He said that a focus of PR activity will be on consumer press to promote the website’s launch later next month and services including party planning, email invites, hotel booking and a post party and event picture gallery.

Activity will include surveys on parties as well as a focus on celebrities, with promotional events at Café De Paris and the Roof Gardens Kensington.

Fulford said: ‘A lot of the PR activity will be organising and promoting events and parties which is, after all, what the site is all about. ­Another element we will be promoting is the social networking ­aspect, such as being able to post pictures on the site after an event.’ Partner Nick Ede is leading the account.

Among celebrities being used to promote the event are former Brookside actress Jennifer Ellison who will be the face of the campaign.

‘This is an enormous brand in the US, very well known among 20 somethings, and there is real potential for it in the UK,’ added Fulford.

Evite was launched in 1998 and is owned by American media and internet giant IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Using the site, an event organiser creates an online invitation – referred to as an Evite – and then enters the e-mail addresses of prospective guests. The website then e-mails the guests who can then put themselves in one of three categories: attending, not attending and maybe.

Hosts can determine from the website whether or not a guest has viewed the invite.

EdenCanCan specialises in celebrity-focused consumer PR activity and last year was hired by BBC Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry (PRWeek, 3 November 2006).