Home Depot's director of media, Christi Korzekwa, said a beta version of the system is complete and is currently being reviewed by networks, marketers and agencies that may be interested in participating--and March 15 is the target date to go live.

Both buyers and sellers examining what is now known as the eBay Media Marketplace may offer suggestions for improvement to the committee, which could then take them to eBay for tinkering, Korzekwa said.

While no networks have signed on to participate in the version that would launch in March, a group of marketers are steadfastly committed. And while they may not deliver on the stated goal of raising a combined $50 million to spend, Korzekwa said the pool would be substantial enough to entice the selling community.

"We're strongly committed to putting large numbers in the exchange, and are not concerned about hitting our target," she said.

There has been some speculation that committee members might signal their commitment to the system is so strong that if networks decline to join, they would sit out the second-quarter scatter market entirely.

Intel's Global Media Director Kathleen Malone said that is "something we're in the process of evaluating," although she stopped short of indicating the tech company would do a full-fledged pullout.

Members of the steering committee are marketers Home Depot, Intel, Toyota, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, along with top agency executives Bill Cella of DraftFCB, Carat's Ray Warren, PHD's Steve Grubbs and Peggy Green of Zenith. The ANA and AAAAs are supportive of the effort, but are sort of adjunct members.

Somewhat surprisingly--although it's a sign of how committed the retailer is to the project--Wal-Mart has indicated it will participate. Wal-Mart's former senior vice president of marketing communications Julie Roehm had been an outspoken champion of an online exchange, going back to her tenure at DaimlerChrysler. But Roehm left under a cloud in December, and there was some speculation that the massive retailer would want to distance itself from any initiatives she was intimately involved with.

Revlon is also on board, as are other marketers, although a representative for the Marketplace declined to name them.

A copy of a document detailing the beta version that's being circulated for review reveals just how detailed and thorough the system that eBay has developed is. The exchange can go in either direction, where a marketer submits an RFP for a network to respond to, or a network posts inventory out for sale.

A buyer's RFP allows it to request that a network offer it a deal based on desired GRPs or budget it has to spend. The buyer can also request preferences, such as a primary and secondary demographic target; length of spots it wants to air; programming genres it is willing to run in; flight dates; and dayparts it would air in. Requests can even extend to offerings such as product placement, corollary Web placement or billboards.

A buyer would then select from a menu of networks it would be willing to make a deal with--and those networks (that don't know the name of the buyer) can then decide whether to engage in negotiating. A buyer can also set a deadline for how long a network has to begin deal-making.

Selected networks could then respond with an offer indicating GRPs and CPMs it would go with, as well as the number of ad units and other benefits (product placement, Web presence, etc.) it is willing to offer.

Buyers and sellers can then negotiate with each other electronically, hoping to hash out a deal.

The document outlining the beta version suggests a buyer might say: "This was an interesting bid, but your price per impression was higher than most. Can you do anything to make it more competitive?"

Possible seller response, along with a revised offer: "I've adjusted my price and included additional value that should make this your best offer."

Then, buyers can accept or decline.

By the same token, negotiations can start in the other direction. A seller can offer available inventory based on target demos, air dates, daypart details, etc.--and then bidding among marketers would begin.

The system is far from fully transparent, so Home Depot won't know what Lowe's is doing or ESPN the same for Versus--but a general "Market Tracker" offers aggregated information, such as total budget dollars or GRPs open for sellers.

So far, no network has agreed to participate, which continues to cast some doubt that the system will be up and running less than a month from now--since without a seller, the system is obviously unworkable.

The steering committee's targets are cable networks that may struggle to unload inventory or are looking for an alternate revenue stream. (Broadcasters have been fiercely resistant, arguing that it turns their inventory into a commodity). Committee members said some cable networks have indicated an interest.

One cable network sales executive who months ago said he couldn't be dragged into participating has said he would be willing to give it another look.

Both Korzekwa and Cella said the committee has had discussions with Sean Cunningham, head of the trade group Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, hoping he could persuade members to sign on.

"(CAB) seems to be very interested," DraftFCB's Cella said.

But a representative for the CAB said Cunningham has not given a commitment either way, and thus has not begun lobbying member networks.

Although the proposed system does allow for some negotiation involving product placement and other newfangled benefits, committee members said the system is not intended to replace the traditional one-on-one, face-to-face negotiations that transpire for prime real estate during the upfront or for very complex multi-platform deals.

"It frees me up, and frees my agency up. And hopefully, frees networks up for inventory that they really need to focus on, and they can spend more time doing that," Korzekwa said.

Cella said it can free a network sales force up to pursue more involved or critical deals, while bringing in revenue without devoting manpower.

"You need your salespeople to dig into a client's DNA to understand their needs. And a sales staff can spend more time to figure out their needs--and ultimately make more revenue," Cella said.

Grubbs, Green, Korzekwa and Howard Rosenberg, eBay's point person, are scheduled to give an update on the Media Marketplace in a 45-minute session at the AAAA's Media Conference in Las Vegas on Feb. 28.

Intel's Malone said that while it is "not on the drawing board," she can envision the system migrating next to include sales of print pages via electronic RFPs.

"That could be woven in quite easily, I would imagine," she said.

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