• by Adam Bernard , May 3, 2002

The World Advertising Research Center has recently re-launched at www.WARC.com, and if you’ve ever needed to find an obscure stat – such as ad spend by medium in Zimbabwe for the first quarter of 2001 -- this is the site for you.

The WARC - an independent organization based in the U.K. - has been serving the needs of the global marketing, advertising, media and research communities for more than 40 years and their new website offers more than 15,000 articles, case studies, research and conference papers as well as ad spend statistics, demographic and economic data drawn from over 25 international sources covering all areas of marketing communications.

The organization works closely with trade associations, industry bodies and blue chip companies around the world, including the Advertising Research Foundation, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, ACNielsen and Young & Rubicam.

Want to know a specific company's marketing strategies? Just click on advertisers, select that particular company, and download the case study. The site also features a comprehensive and easily searchable database of information, many available in PDF format. Some sections include Media Planning and Buying, Marketing Intelligence, and Marketing and Brand Management.

The news that one can find on the WARC website is timely, and the breaking news is on the main page, but still has where you can find it on the site right on top the particular piece, which is very handy when searching for similar news, or other news involving that particular topic. Also, since this is an international site, when dollar values are mentioned they aren't just in dollars, but also in European currencies.

Take the tour, you will thank yourself for it.

With the relaunch, WARC.com has turned into a portal of sorts for advertising. It is easy to use, and easy to read, though some of the text may be too small for older users. Unfortunately, not all of it's features are free, as there is a specific section titled "Free Content," with the rest of the information being for subscribers who pay an annual fee to have access to the information. While I can't say whether or not its worth it to pay for the information, some of which dates back to the 80's, I can say the free information, and the tour, make WARC.com worth a click.