CNET Campaign Pitches to Ad Industry

CNET Inc. said it launched an advertising
campaign “that uses humor to set the record straight about its dominant
position versus its competition in online technology coverage.”

The business-to-business campaign, which is targeted to the advertising
community, cites syndicated research data showing CNET ahead of competitors
ZDNet, IDG, and CMP in terms of audience reach. Spending was not disclosed.

The first ad shows a man with the upper body of a weight lifter and
disproportionately skinny legs. The copy next to the upper body reads, “Ziff-
Davis in Print,” while the copy next to the lower body reads, “Ziff-Davis
Online.” The body copy admonishes advertisers to “Go with the biggest
audience online. Just make sure you know who that is.”

The new campaign includes both print and online media. The first of three
planned print ads appeared in Advertising Age, Adweek,
Brandweek, Mediaweek
and The New York Times.

The online ads are running at AdAge.com, ClickZ and the Iconocast
newsletter, among other outlets. The ads were developed by the San
Francisco office of Saatchi & Saatchi, CNET’s agency of record.

CNET said it led ZDNet in audience reach with 8.4 million unique visitors
compared to ZDNet’s 7 million, as reported by RelevantKnowledge and 4.3
million unique visitors compared to 3.7 million for ZDNet, as reported by
Media Metrix. According to @Plan’s Winter/Spring Report for 1998, CNET had
11.3 million unique visitors, compared to ZDNet’s 8.1 million.