• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer, June 14, 2002

Launched January 1999, The Premium Network (www.premiumnetwork.com) grew out of Ken Margolis Associates, which began as a publishers’ rep firm concentrating on advertising sales, public relations, and marketing consulting. In 1995, Margolis produced the first major fundraising auction online and, in the wake of that success, stopped representing print publications and focused on online representation.

The Premium Network currently represents 75 websites and serves 5 billion impressions monthly. It consists of 11 network categories and due to their steady success, has launched a new promotional portal, Premium Kids (www.premiumkids.net), with plans for Premium Music in the near future. Some of the websites currently in The Premium Network include www.spedia.net, www.discjockey.com, and www.financialweb.com.

In the long-term, “Premium Network’s goal is to better serve our advertising clients who are seeking a single source solution to targeting online audiences,” says Ken Margolis, President. “By aggregating the best-of-class sites together, Premium Network delivers performance and diversification to our advertising clients, which yields highly effective campaigns and promotions.”

A specialty focus of The Premium Network is its online promotional sweepstake programs, through which a website can offer customers an incentive to return. In the past, The Premium Network has offered various trips around the world and backstage passes to meet popular musicians. Alternatively, the Premium Branded Game allows advertisers to place a branded game either on your site or throughout sites in the Premium Network. Not only does this accumulate awareness about a website, but it keeps consumers at your site for longer periods of time as well as bringing them back on a more frequent basis. Along with these promotions, an advertiser can also buy rich media sponsorships, content integration sponsorships, and various-sized banner advertisements on a CPM pricing structure.

Adam Samko, an account executive from move.com who has worked with The Premium Network, said, “From specially formatted reports to same- day changes in creative, I could always count on a quick response to my many needs. The close attention that I received from The Premium Network freed up time that I would normally spend managing the account.”