AAAA, ANI announce new American digital ad ID system

The company, Advertising Digital Identification, LLC (Ad-ID), will provide the marketing and advertising industry with a new digital identification system for all forms of advertising. The system-designed by the ANA and AAAA in consultation with major media groups-is expected to be operational by October 2002; the goal is to have universal adoption and compliance by all media, advertisers, ad agencies, and their suppliers.

The announcement was made today at the ANA/AAAA Marketing Conference & Trade Show: "Effective Use of Digital Marketing to Reach Profitable Consumers," which runs July 15-16 at the New York Hilton.

"Given the new media landscape, we knew we had to create one coding standard to ensure that our advertisers and their agencies would not face a confusing array of multiple standards to identify their advertising assets. Ultimately, Ad-ID will facilitate a higher level of accountability," said John J. Sarsen, Jr. CEO of the ANA.

Burtch Drake, AAAA president-CEO said, "Ad-ID will help migrate the current Industry Standard Coding Identification (ISCI) to a digital platform and holds great potential for the industry. Finally, here's a system that allows advertisers, agencies, the media, and suppliers to be fully connected and communicating in real time-and we're confident this new ID system will revolutionize the industry the way the UPC code revolutionized the grocery business."

Ad-ID will provide a wide array of short and long-term benefits to the industries it serves. Initially, the new system will serve as a replacement for the eight-digit, analog ID codes mandatory for placing network TV commercials for the past 30 years, called ISCI. The process has served the industry well, but has limited capabilities- the coding system offers only four million combinations, it cannot be used in any other media, and it lacks the ability to track and attach information about each ad.

Ad-ID, backward compatible with the current ISCI, is a completely digital system, which uses a 12 digit alphanumeric code-thereby creating 2.8 trillion unique combinations. This new system allows for descriptive "metadata" information that is useful across all digital environments.

The new, digital system possesses a virtually unlimited capacity to store a wide variety of information about any ad in any medium. For example, with Ad-ID, permissioned users can quickly access information about the ad, which agency created the spot, with a list of credits including the director, copywriter, art director, etc.-and where the ad is scheduled to run.

Longer-term benefits of Ad-ID via future software development include the possibility of global and cross-media campaign tracking, ROI advertising analysis, and real time verification that media ran according to plan.

The new codes come with a price tag, but the billing structure insures that even the smallest advertiser can afford an identification code.

With Ad-ID's launch this fall, the ANA and the AAAA will offer advertisers and their agencies seminars on how to make the best use of the new system.
Larry Smith of Live Idea, Inc. served as business consultant and software developer on the Ad-ID project.

The Company

Ad-ID LLC's corporate global headquarters will be located at AAAA headquarters in New York City, where ad agency veteran John Kaiser has joined as Ad-ID's Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales. Previously a senior account manager at former Dancer Fitzgerald Sample and its successor agency Saatchi & Saatchi, Kaiser most recently was responsible for marketing at MarketPlace Technologies, a web technology company in Boston.

Kaiser will work closely with AAAA Executive Vice President Wendy Jones in the AAAA Charlotte office, where the operations and finance sides of Ad-ID will be run.

About the ANA

The ANA is the industry's premier trade association dedicated exclusively to marketing and brand building. Representing over 300 companies with 8,000 brands that collectively spend over $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising, the association's members market products and services to consumers and businesses. ANA serves the needs of its members by providing marketing and advertising industry leadership, legislative leadership, information resources, professional development and industry-wide networking.

About the AAAA

The American Association of Advertising Agencies is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. The 1,225 member agency offices it serves in the U.S. employ 65,000 people, offer a wide range of marketing communications services, and place 75 percent of all national advertising. The management-oriented association helps its members build their businesses, and acts as the industry's spokesman with government, media, and the public sector. For more information visit our Web site at www.aaaa.org.