Advertising Age Launches PC-based Service

Advertising Age will launch a new PC-based news service called The Ad Age Edge that delivers television- quality, full screen video of TV commercials, print, interactive advertising and news in real time.

Developed in conjunction with Intel Corp., the subscription-based service will be available to customers in the first quarter of 1999.

Ad Age Edge will provide senior level advertising, marketing and media executives with immediate desktop access to the latest news, information and creative work in the advertising industry, the company said. News will include ad launches, campaign strategies, creative sources and agency backgrounders.

Beta-testing partners for The Ad Age Edge include Procter & Gamble, Sears, BBDO and Bozell Worldwide.

“This ground-breaking business-to-business information resource will radically change the way our industry gathers and uses information,” said Edward R. Erhardt, vice president and publisher of The Ad Age Group. “The Ad Age Edge is the logical evolution of the Ad Age brand of information. We are building on our tradition of being the industry’s source of record for both its past and future.

“Users will have instant access to the latest advertising news and creative work, the ability to compare marketing strategies in related businesses and up-to-date spending. They will also have, for the first time, easy access to Ad Age’s archival materials; years of priceless insight into the history and development of the advertising and marketing industry,” Erhardt said.

Ad Age Edge also will feature commentary on spots and campaigns by the editors of the magazine, along with related news items and real-time breaking stories. Customers will be able to build a personalized library of ads for reference purposes, gathering information by industry, location, agency, genre or demographic indicators.

In reference to Intel’s participation, Intel’s content group vice president and general manager Ron Whittier said: “Intel is working with a number of industry players such as Ad Age to create new applications and capabilities that use the Internet to deliver rich, interactive experiences for PC users.”