VeriSign Aims to Boost Brand Recognition

They direct you to every Web address you type in your browser. They secure nearly every item you buy online. Soon they’ll be routing your telephone calls as well.

And you probably don’t even know who “they” are.

VeriSign Inc.--the provider of Internet address and security services--is hoping to step out from behind the curtain in 2002 with an advertising campaign modeled after the Intel Inside marketing of the early 1990s.

Like Intel Corp., VeriSign’s branding suffers from its lack of a clear consumer product.

Unlike the chip giant, VeriSign has confused the marketplace by acquiring companies that do different things, including provide obscure services.

“We had a Robert Bly-esque time in the woods, beating on drums, trying to come up with a message of who we are,” a VeriSign spokesman said, referring to the American poet who argued that people suffer from being disconnected to their mythic roots.

The company came up with a mantra--digital trust services--but now has its work cut out to make their message carry.

VeriSign will commit substantial amounts to its identity-boosting campaign--one published report put its ad budget at $80 million--using television and major publications to get the word out.