• by Adam Bernard , April 10, 2002

Every week new ad campaigns and websites are launched, and it's hard to keep up with them all. If you missed a few, here are this week's highlights - from Snapple, to moving, to vacationing in Nevada, welcome to this week’s Out To Launch!

washingtonpost.com is launching its first-ever trade advertising campaign to draw attention to the national audience that uses the site. Print and online ads that will run in advertising industry publications are intended to increase awareness about washingtonpost.com’s national position and audience. The first print advertisement in the campaign leads with the statement, “We’re the #1 news site for the national audience you want. Affluent. Educated. Influential.” It goes on to list statistics about the site’s audience. In addition to running print and online ads beginning this week, the site will use direct mail and other outreach efforts over the next several months to deliver its message to potential advertisers. Fahey-Davidson, a Washington, D.C.-based integrated marketing and advertising firm, is handling this business-to-business campaign.

Life is filled with amusing and entertaining moments, and a new, multi-faceted campaign for Snapple by Deutsch New York, brings them to life with personified Snapple bottles. Debuting April 15th, six commercials in a variety of 20-, 15-, 10- and 5-second spots, as well as outdoor, interactive, promotional and PR events capture slices of life as reenacted by Snapple bottles. The work appears on network, cable and local broadcast on programs including "South Park," "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," "Cheers," and "Space Ghost." Deutsch's media group created a special deal with Viacom Plus on a multi-platform partnership for the "What's Your Story Promotion," leveraging media dollars across Viacom's TV (MTV, MTV2, BET, UPN, VH1, Nick at Nite, etc.), radio (Opie and Anthony), and outdoor properties. Billings for the integrated campaign are undisclosed.

Crestmark Bank has launched a major new marketing effort to educate business owners and bankers about the financial services Crestmark offers to growing businesses. In addition to the radio, Crestmark Bank will be utilizing direct mail and print advertising. Greenspot Marketing and Advertising in Madison Heights is the agency overseeing the project. The campaign kicked off with a 12-week radio flight featuring three spots. Two spots are targeted to business owners and one to bankers. Each features the key message: “Crestmark Bank is the business and bankers' resource that specializes in providing working capital to businesses like yours.”

Credit Suisse Asset Management LLC has announced the launch of a new advertising campaign designed to broaden and raise the firm's profile among U.S. institutional investors and financial intermediaries. The campaign follows the recent re-branding of the firm's U.S. mutual fund products as offerings now sold primarily through third-party financial intermediaries and institutions. Developed in partnership with Kirshenbaum, Bond and Partners, the ads wrap the firm's distinctive blue and red corporate colors around a simple and sometimes humorous or understated text message. One ad, for example, reads, 'The best research is rarely found in an e-mail attachment.' In another, the global asset manager opines, 'In our experience, the most unappreciated companies sometimes appreciate the most.'

Moving to the web, as a new website is now available for individuals who want the freedom of working on their own and who are thinking about starting their own solo businesses. SoloCareer.com features content in the form of “how-to” articles as well as motivational information focusing on the first-hand stories of individuals who have been working “on their own” for years. This month the site features an in-depth interview with George “Spike” Riel, a media consultant who has been working alone since 1990. Future interviews are planned with individuals across a range of disciplines, including the legal, graphic design, construction, and other fields where individuals can flourish.

Monstermoving.com, an online source of relocation information and a brand extension of Monster, the flagship brand of TMP Worldwide Inc. unveiled an enhanced version of its leading online relocation site. The revamped site offers significant consumer-focused additions and improvements in usability, functionality and content. Following on the heels of the site's recent award from Yahoo! Internet Life for “Best Relocation Help,” Monstermoving.com is introducing a new user interface designed with a more contemporary look and feel. Additionally, the site has added a new Monstermoving Tax Center. Teaming up with the nation's leading tax preparer, H&R Block, the Monstermoving Tax Center offers a wealth of resources for managing the tax process.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism has announced that people looking for a challenging adventure need to look no further than Nevada, and the new adventure section of travelnevada.com. This new addition to the website, "Down and Dirty Adventure Guide," features information about adventure activities and sounds. A click on a given activity will lead a user into an interactive site that provides specific information about each adventure. Sounds of the adventures accompany the pictures. Activities include mountain biking, hang gliding, horseback riding, ice fishing, and watching wild horses and burros.

This newsletter is compiled weekly by MediaPost staff writer Adam Bernard. Past issues are archived at the MediaPost website. Your comments, questions and submissions are always welcome and appreciated.