• by Adam Bernard , June 1, 2001

Every week brings a myriad of ad campaign and website launches and it's nearly impossible to keep up with them all. If you missed a few, here are some the major launches of the week that was, and the week that will be.

Stefanides, a full-service advertising agency and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Envoy Communications Group launched a national advertising campaign for Court TV's "Safety Challenge 2001" this week. The campaign's goal is to help raise awareness of the one-hour Court TV interactive crime awareness special "Safety Challenge 2001" airing on June 5th at 10pm ET. The program is being produced by ABC News Productions and is sponsored by Progressive Insurance.

Continuing in the medium that is television, Showtime Networks Inc. has unveiled "SHOWTIME SHOWCASE," formerly known as SHOWTIME 3. The relaunch is scheduled to begin on July 1. SHOWTIME SHOWCASE will "showcase" some of the programming SHOWTIME has to offer with SHOWTIME Originals airing seven days a week in a dedicated prime time (8-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) programming block. SHOWTIME SHOWCASE will also have high-end theatricals like BABETTE'S FEAST, FLAWLESS, WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN and HOUSE OF GAMES airing outside of the dedicated prime time hours. In addition to the programming changes, SHOWTIME SHOWCASE will feature a new logo that incorporates the look and feel of the SHOWTIME brand.

The Aurora Showcase, Florida's first electronic book publishing website, is scheduled to launch on June 15. The Aurora Showcase will feature previously unpublished works in every literary genre, from romance novels to books about the environment, and will make them available to the public for download. Visitors to the site may read and review a chapter from any book at no charge, and then decide whether to download the entire book for a nominal fee. The Aurora Showcase will absorb all costs, and writers can expect to receive royalties.

CDW Computer Centers Inc., a direct solutions provider of technology products and services, has created a new contest for IT professionals. The "FRED Story" contest is based on the enthusiastic customer feedback the company has received from its recent empathy-themed branding campaign. Consistent with the campaign, the FREDs pay tribute to the nation's busy IT professionals who, in addition to being seen as solvers of all business issues through technology, are charged with keeping the technology running, regardless of equipment crashes, power failures, office mishaps or misuse of technology by novice users.

Software giant Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Internet unit launched a $50 million national ad campaign and price promotion to lure consumers from rival America Online. Following a price increase by AOL last week, MSN's advertising campaign aims to persuade consumers to drop that service and sign up for MSN Internet Access, Microsoft said.

As part of a major marketing promotion supporting the launch of Microsoft Office XP, Microsoft and USATODAY.com developed a blowout online advertising campaign that is ran on USATODAY.com for one day only - May 31st, the day the product hits retail stores. Developed by Microsoft, a worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing, Microsoft Office XP is a new version of Office which was created to simplify productivity, enable effective group collaboration, and provide a flexible way to solve business needs.

BAND-AID Brand and Home & Garden Television (HGTV) have teamed up for "Garden Aid," a promotional partnership for HGTV's gardening programming including the new series, THE SECRET WORLD OF GARDENS. The partnership includes on-air spots, a consumer sweepstakes, Walgreens end-aisle displays, direct mail circulars, free standing insert newspaper ads, and an online package with banner ads, buttons and a special co-branded "Garden Aid" microsite. The on-air portion of the partnership consists of several different varieties of BAND-AID Brand sponsored spots airing on HGTV and the Do It Yourself (DIY) network, including tagged tune-in spots for THE SECRET WORLD OF GARDENS, a half-hour nature documentary show airing on Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET that explores the intimate relationship between the plants and bugs in your yard; 15-second "Bug Bites" factoid spots about the bugs in your garden; and 60-second "Garden Aid" vignettes about gardening safety.

The trustees of the Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust (GNY LECET), have unfurled a massive banner proclaiming the Westin New York at Times Square "A Tishman Project: Built Better; Built Safer; Built Union." The massive 10-foot by 20-foot banner, along with smaller sidewalk signs, will remain on the job site for the duration of the project.

- Compiled by MediaPost staff writer Adam Bernard. He may be reached at adambernard@mediapost.com or 203-222-0330, ext. 319.