The website, euro.ecb.int, was created and run by Publicis' online and digital arm, Publicis NetWorks, on behalf of the European Central Bank. The site was viewed 2.5m times before the launch of the euro on January 1 2002. More than 1m were unique visitors.
Publicis NetWorks also estimates that free downloads of artwork from the site have saved approximately €3m.
The website was planned as part of a European-wide education and information campaign to provide citizens with practical information on the new notes and coins to aid a smooth introduction for the new currency.
The high usage represents a major success story for the website, as well as for Publicis NetWorks. Not only did so many people log on to the site and browse it for an average of 10 minutes each, an estimated 200,000 print-ready pieces of artwork were downloaded from the site.
The ECB made print-ready artworks available for individuals and businesses to download free-of-charge. The agency argues that by using the web as a distribution mechanism it encouraged the public to use the "approved" artworks freely to display, use or pass on to others, discouraging them from trying to create their own, possibly incorrect, information.
Publicis NetWorks estimates that it would have cost nearly €6.5m for a brochure or physical artworks to be sent to those 2.5m people who logged on, while the website cost €1.4m to launch and maintain.
Thomas Curwen, online planning director at Publicis NetWorks, said: "The website performed well beyond our expectations in terms of the number of visitors using it to explore the notes and coins, but this also shows how successfully it can be used to support even the smallest businesses on a mass scale, by providing them with printing materials they can use to support their customers."
Publicis was appointed in 1999 by the ECB to manage the world's largest-ever public information and education campaign -- launching the euro to 300m people in the 12 participating EU states
Publicis is part of French advertising group Publicis Groupe, the sixth-largest communications group in the world. Publicis Groupe includes Saatchi & Saatchi, Fallon, Nelson Communications and The Triangle Group.
Key clients for the group in the UK are Renault, ASDA/Wal-Mart, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, L'Or茅al, MFI, Muller, COI Communications, United Biscuits, the Post Office and The Woolwich.
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