ADDRESSABLE ADVERTISING COALITION JOINS FORCES WITH ASSOCIATION FOR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Convergence of Two Interactive Associations Raises Profile of Addressable Advertising & Marketing Solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (INTERNET WIRE) -- 06/15/99 -- The Addressable Advertising Coalition (AAC) has joined forces with the Association for Interactive Media (AIM) (http://www.interactivehq.org), to create a powerful marketing-oriented group designed to foster growth in the emerging interactive media environment, it was announced today. The AAC will operate as a co-organization within AIM, which is headed by Ben Isaacson, acting executive director of AIM. Art Cohen, one of the ad industry's most experienced and respected proponents of interactive and addressable advertising, will serve as chairman of the AAC.
Isaacson explained that the entire media industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming years because of emerging technologies and delivery infrastructures, such as digital cable and broadband. "With the added insight that comes from the AAC and its members, AIM becomes not only the largest Internet and interactive media industry trade organization, it becomes the one with the largest and highest quality base of research into audience preferences, tastes and habits," said Isaacson.
AIM members include America Online (http://www.aol.com), Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com), IBM (http://www.ibm.com), MTV Networks (http://www.mtv.com), The Weather Channel (http://www.weather.com), Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com), Media Metrix (http://www.mediametrix.com) and Internet Shopping Network (http://www.isn.com) and more than 350 others.
"The joining of forces of like-capabilities and perspectives gives mainstream advertisers, and those who focus on direct marketing, a new window into interactive technologies that will drive the industry," he continued. "AIM is the only organization with exposure to program standards, direct and interactive advertising, research, broadband and the computing environment that allow highly effective, target- marketing programs to be implemented."
Under the leadership of Art Cohen, its current president, the AAC has become a leading proponent for quality and standards in research and use of professional measurement techniques for interactive media. The AAC will work closely with advertising agencies and other marketers currently within AIM. AAC members have included many of the major ad agencies, as well as top media and Fortune 500 advertisers.
Cohen, currently senior vice president of advertising and e-commerce for ACTV, Inc. (NASDAQ:IATV), a Governing Member of AIM, noted: "The Internet and other interactive technology-based media are finally at a place where wide-scale deployment is economically feasible. AAC can now offer its membership access to a wider range of direct advertising technology and market research -- the core strengths of AIM -- while providing AIM with a greater perspective on the power of addressable advertising and new opportunities made possible by TV-Internet convergence."
Cohen, who first led the AAC while at Your Choice TV, is a vocal advocate of establishing means by which audience measurement methods can be tested and validated when advertisers use television, the Internet or other interactive media. The AAC has published documents outlining policies for interactive technologies and the use of research programs to guide advertisers and broadcasters.
"Digital television and TV-Internet convergence are about to take off in a very big way", Cohen continued. "It is crucial that the entire direct marketing and advertising communities be prepared for it."
The importance of interactive television and its impact is underscored by Isaacson, who points out that advertisers, marketing firms, consumer product companies and advertising agencies alike can now offer complete and targeted campaigns integrating every medium from traditional print, broadcast, direct mail and digital media. "In addition to being better coordinated, they are also more cost-effective because they reach the right people at the right time. This is the true benefit behind integration and research," the AIM executive said.
Bill Samuels, chairman and chief executive officer of ACTV, Inc. (NASDAQ:IATV), and a founding member of the AAC, added: "The evolution of television, particularly the emergence of digital cable and broadband, offers both serious challenges and great opportunities for the marketing community. We believe addressable advertising will be a prominent revenue driver for those of us in the industry. It gives marketers an unprecedented amount of information around which to plan campaigns intelligently, and a more effective way of reaching the right consumers in the new television landscape." Detailed information about ACTV can be found at actv.com.
The resultant organization of the new AAC/AIM alliance, under AIM's auspices, becomes the largest of its kind in the world.
Formed in 1993, the Association for Interactive Media (AIM), an independent subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), partners with its members to defend the Internet and interactive media industry in Washington, to promote consumer confidence, and to provide successful business-to-business networking opportunities. By supporting AIM, the industry ensures that there remains a healthy marketplace for products and services in the new digital economy. For more information, see the AIM Web site at interactivehq.org.
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Contact: Karen Stairs, Association for Interactive Media
Voice: 202-408-0008
Email: karen@interactivehq.org
or
Contact: Mike Rosen, on behalf of ACTV / Bratskeir & Company
Voice: 212-679-2233, ext. 213
Email: mrosen@bratskeir.com
or
Contact: Steven Blinn, on behalf of AIM / Steven Blinn & Associates
Voice: 212-721-5529
Email: smb@inch.com
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