Higher Stakes: Any questions about what promotions.com does for a living?

What’s in a name? How about a concise description of what your company does? That’s what Webstakes.com thinks, and why the four-year-old operation spent “six figures” to acquire the rights to “promotions.com” as a new corporate site and the company’s new moniker.

“It was important for us to have a name that was synonymous with what we do, because we are not a business-to-consumer site and we go way beyond sweepstakes,” says ceo Steve Krein.

Webstakes.com always intended to be a business-to-business company that creates and executes online promotions for marketers. The Webstakes.com Web site was developed into a consumer destination “because clients wanted an advertising vehicle, too,” Krein says. “But then confusion set in, and we became synonymous with the Web site.”

The Webstakes.com site remains a consumer destination clients can use as an advertising platform and as a way to drive traffic to their own sites. But Promotions.com will lead with its strategic concepting and execution side. The company recently launched a distinct direct-marketing unit that will develop targeted e-mail and lead-generation campaigns.

For now, most revenues are still coming from advertising and sponsorship deals on Webstakes.com (which accounted for 85 percent of total revenues in fourth-quarter `99). The outsourcing business serviced 25 clients last quarter, up from 15 in the third quarter.

“We’re seeing the maturing of the industry. You’ve got real online promotion budgets now,” says Krein.

Promotions.com finished the year with $10.5 million in revenues, up 118 percent from ’98. Operating expenses more than quadrupled to $19.9 million, primarily due to a huge jump in sales and marketing expenses. The company posted a net loss of $19 million for the year.