• by August 18, 2004

MADISON AVENUE ADDS SOME ENTITIES WILLING TO DISCLOSE THEIR Ad- IDENTITIES - It's been a while since we've heard any major news concerning Ad-ID, the digital code developed by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies that is intended to function as the "equivalent of the marketing community's UPC code." The code, which was introduced two years ago by the trade associations as a solution for marketers seeking to traffic their advertising content in a digital media world, sure seemed like a logical and indispensable tool, but we couldn't understand why there wasn't more of a groundswell behind the initiative. Well, this morning, the ANA and the Four A's announced that the Big 4 broadcast networks - ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox - are now "fully Ad-ID compliant." That's half as many TV networks as the number of marketers that have announced using the codes: Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Con Agra, PepsiCo, Ernst & Young, Ford, Coors, and Wachovia.

Nonetheless, the Ad-ID team says "more than 100 major marketers and industry players" have signed on, and ANA chief Bob Liodice predicted news of the Big 4's involvement would add to the "ripple effect" that has already started within the ad business.

"Ad-ID is continuing to pick up more and more media companies and advertisers; firmly establishing the system as an industry-standard practice for driving marketing accountability," he said in a statement issued by the group today. Others who've been Ad-IDed include: the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, the Television Bureau of Advertising, the Interactive Television Alliance, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the Radio Advertising Bureau and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Donovan, Datatech, Talent Partners, Vyvx and "scores of other industry systems."

For more information, visit Ad-ID.

WIRED DECLARES THE 'WEB' NO LONGER PROPER, AS A NOUN, ANYWAY -The plugged in crew at Wired News is usually on the vanguard of digital media. Now they're leading the way for grammatical media usage. "Effective with this sentence, Wired News will no longer capitalize the 'I' in internet," Copy Chief Tony Long writes in today's edition of the online journal. Frankly, we never understood how the Internet became a proper noun in the first place. The Web, which refers to the World Wide Web, is quite another thing. But Wired News's Long is also banning his writers and editors from invoking the "shift" key in connection with the "W" in Web, unless it is explicitly used in connection with the World Wide Web.

Aside from beating the Riff to the punch on yet another media industry innovation, we think Wired News' case for the lower case, is quite telling in ways more than grammar. The reason, writes Long, is that the Internet is no longer a cause, but an established medium. "True believers are fond of capitalizing words, whether they be marketers or political junkies or, in this case, techies. If It's Capitalized, It Must Be Important."

While the Internet may still be important, Long - who is also credited with inserting the hyphen in "e-mail" (though we've noticed many grammarians have move to "email") - is effectively saying it's no more important capitalwise than media like newspapers, magazines, radio and television. So, what about "TV?" We suppose we'll have to wait for TelevisionWeek copy chief Jenny Butler to weigh in on that one.

Meanwhile, MediaPost copy chief Dacia Ray, acknowledges, "Wired News' move caught us by surprise, but we've formed a task force to explore the sensitivity of all cases - both upper and lower. As a matter of fact, we've got a subcommittee looking into the whole MEDIA magazine issue right now. Nothing's been settled, but some interesting ideas have come out of it, including an entirely new case convention that we're not ready to disclose at this time. It's code-named "in-between case."

WANT TO ROCK SOME VOTES? FORGET MTV, BUY FOX NEWS CHANNEL - Some surprising and counterintuitive findings have come out of an unusual study of the political and news media dispositions of American youths. The study, released today by newsletter publisher Jack Myers and online "youth community" Neopets, reveals that Fox News Channel is the "most watched network for election news" among the 8- to 17-year-old set. Aside from being surprised that they watch Fox News at all (35 percent said they did vs. 29 percent for CBS, 28 percent for NBC, 23 percent for ABC, 20 percent for CNN and just 12 percent for MTV), the study reveals a strangely partisan political result: 44 percent of the respondents would vote for John Kerry if they could; only 38 percent would vote for George W. Bush.

"Young people represent the most media savvy and sophisticated generation in history," states Myers. "They actively use the Internet more than any prior generation; they have greater access to multiple news sources and are more aware of national and global events than previous generations because of their access to alternative media." We don't disagree, but Fox News Channel? C'mon!