The manufacturers of consumer packaged goods are offering coupons to more than 25 million consumers via the web through a new initiative recently launched by Nuvisio Corp. Kellogg USA, Kimberly-Clark and Clairol are among the first consumer packaged goods companies to use NestEggz, a service that uses proprietary technology that enables companies to distribute fraud-protected coupons online. The printable coupons, distributed on high-traffic web sites and portals such as About.com, are redeemable at stores that accept manufacturers` coupons. By utilizing About.com’s 700 topic-specific environments, consumer goods companies can reach interested consumers on sites that relate directly to their products, says Dani Birnbaum, Nuvisio’s CEO.

Consumers register for the program by clicking on a NestEggz coupon that appears on a portal or other site they are visiting. The registration page, hosted by NestEggz, has the look of the original hosting site, and shoppers are delivered seamlessly back to the hosting site when registration is complete. The printable coupons deliver 10 cents off the product at store registers, while the remaining face value of the coupon is banked via bar code in an individual interest-bearing account that the registration process has created for the consumer. The value of validated coupons in the account is redeemable by the consumer from NestEggz in cash, and consumers can track their account status at NestEggz.com.

The deployment of the service on highly trafficked rather than coupon-specific destination sites provides more efficient coupon distribution, says Birnbaum. By removing coupon verification from the store register to its processing center, the program provides greater fraud protection than traditional coupons, he adds.

Consumer packaged goods companies currently account for approximately 18% of all traditional advertising, but only 2% of total online ad spending. “These companies have avoided online advertising brand promotion primarily because no existing vehicle has been able to move product off the shelves of supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchandisers,” says Birnbaum. “Our technology provides significant barriers to coupon fraud and our web partnerships create the huge audience that brand marketers expect from offline advertising.”