Commentary

Spanning the Globe

Internet marketers today want to have their cake and eat it too. They hope to capitalize on the global exposure of the Internet, but realize the importance of personalizing offers to local markets. MediaSpan — a nationwide local ad network — is helping companies achieve both goals.

The MediaSpan Network provides a single source for reaching over 13 million unique visitors across 1,200 local media properties, including newspapers and radio and TV stations. It offers display ads, audio streaming, e-mail and pre-roll video, as well as geotargeting and “character clusters,” which group properties by behavior and lifestyle. The “soccer mom” block, for instance, groups light contemporary radio stations with house and home sections of papers. Advertisers can also build their own clusters.

“They definitely helped put us on the radar,” says Brock Thurgood, Internet account executive for KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. Today, he says, “just about every big company you see on the Internet you see on our Web site now.”

Phil Thompson, online operations manager of The Topeka Capital-Journal, says that MediaSpan’s ability to attract national advertisers helps validate the value for smaller advertisers. “We no longer have to run house ads; we’re making money,” he says.

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