Even though Microsoft acquired Skype in October 2011, Skype seems to be run as if it was as a semi-independent entity. That's evident in a new Skype ad campaign that launched this week in the US and UK. The new ads are pretty aggressive in its comments on two other Internet companies, Twitter and Facebook.

Ad Age reports that the new campaign costs $12 million. It will start with outdoor billboards with messages such as the one above that mocks Twitter's 140 character limit. Another ad makes fun of Facebook by saying, "Upgrade from a wall post to a first class conversation." In the UK, the Skype billboards will be seen in two of the city's busiest subway stations along with billboards placed outside of buses.

 

Some of the ads post a website URL, itstimeforskype.com, that when visited show a site with links to various pages on the main Skype.com site. Those pages showcase some of Skype's features like video calls, unlimited calls to other countries, screen sharing and more.

Ironically, the campaign will also include a social networking aspect that involves using Twitter. That part of the marketing push, budgeted at $2 million, includes using the Twitter hashtag #timeforskype for promoting Skype's premium features.

There will also be a new digital ad campaign for Skype that will launch later in April on a number of major web sites. However, Ad Age says those ads won't be as "in your face" as the outdoor billboards.

Image via Skype

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