EcoMedia Grows its Footprint Through Partnership with CBS Affiliate Station Groups

Oct 4, 2011 8:00 PM ET
Campaign: EcoAd

(3BL Media) October 4, 2011 - EcoMedia’s EcoAd Program Now Available to All CBS Affiliates, Bringing Ad- Supported Environmental Projects to Additional Communities Nationwide Station Groups Currently Onboard Include Meredith, Raycom Media, Gannett, Belo and Fisher

EcoMedia announced today that it has forged partnerships with numerous CBS Affiliate Station Groups and in doing so is expanding the EcoAd program footprint to bring ad- supported environmental projects to additional communities nationwide. As part of the partnership, EcoMedia’s EcoAd program will now be available to all CBS affiliates. The station groups that have signed on to-date include Meredith, Raycom Media, Gannett, Belo and Fisher.

“Teaming up with CBS affiliates at the local level furthers our mission: to bring job creation, taxpayer savings, environmental improvements, and a better quality of life to communities across the country, said Paul Polizzotto, President and Founder of EcoMedia. “We're thrilled that our EcoAd Program is in such demand from advertisers; given the current economic realities, growing our program with our affiliates is all the more rewarding. Together, we're in a position to make a far-reaching impact, helping to create healthy communities nationwide.”

“There is no better way to grow our affiliate relationships than by forging innovative partnerships such as this one,” said Diana Wilkin, President, CBS Affiliate Relations. “This new offering provides affiliates with a new tool to attract advertising dollars that in turn support long-term, environmentally-friendly projects in their local communities. I am pleased that so many station groups have signed on and I look forward to working with more to grow the program.”

As part of the partnership, participating CBS affiliated station groups will be able to provide their local clients with the option of purchasing advertising that will deliver added value beyond a traditional marketing campaign. With the purchase of every EcoAd package, a portion of dollars spent goes directly toward funding environmental and clean energy projects, all of which have been identified by local municipalities and public entities as being critical. Prior to today’s announcement the EcoAd program had primarily been available to clients purchasing commercial time via the owned-and- operated stations and other CBS-owned platforms, including network, radio, outdoor, and online.

“I applaud EcoMedia for making this wonderful program available to all CBS affiliates,” said Wayne Daugherty, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Raycom Media and Chairman of the CBS Affiliates Board. “This offering is a great way for stations to team up with their local advertisers in a way that directs a portion of the advertising dollars spent back into the communities in which they live and work. Raycom is pleased to join CBS and EcoMedia in this partnership designed to make a real difference in our environment.”

“Meredith is excited to partner with Ecomedia on this unique new business opportunity,” said Kirk Black, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Meredith-owned WGCL in Atlanta. “It’s exciting to be involved in a project that’s good for advertisers and good for our local community.”

EcoMedia's EcoAd advertising program has grown significantly since its launch early this year. Since its launch, more than 20 new advertisers have purchased ad time and the EcoAd program, which enjoys broad support within the environmental community, has added a number of new environmental and community groups to its list of partners and supporters, including The Trust for Public Land.

In addition to adding new clients, supporters and partners, EcoMedia has put EcoAd dollars to work by launching projects in California, Massachusetts and Texas with three previously announced clients. Each project will make a significant environmental impact in their respective communities. Additional EcoMedia environmental projects will be announced in the coming months.

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About CBS EcoMedia Inc.

At EcoMedia, we're propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that's been our mission since we founded the company in 2002. Our premise? That the billions of dollars spent annually in advertising represent a tremendous reservoir of untapped resources – resources that should be directed toward bricks-and-mortar projects which benefit local communities. We develop and nurture a wide-ranging network of partnerships with municipal governments and NGOs nationwide, and connect them with corporations eager to improve the quality of life in the communities they serve.

The result is our EcoAd program, a profoundly innovative twist on traditional advertising, which we have protected through a robust patent portfolio development program. Through our proprietary service, we are able to efficiently redirect a portion of every EcoAd-branded media buy to a local community, where it funds a much-needed environmental project: a solar installation on a community center (San Francisco), a refurbished park and playground for kids with special needs (Arlington, Texas), an elementary school solar learning area (Boston suburbs).

In 2008, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide-range of projects including an energy efficiency retrofit and solar power installation at Miami City Hall, a green makeover for public schools in San Francisco, Miami and Cook County, Ill., and a solar panel installation at California's Long Beach airport, we were proud to become the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media.

The EcoAd program aims to create jobs, save taxpayer money and improve the environment. In the process, we're fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary commercial – and green media, in general – into a catalyst for real, quantifiable, and measurable change.

We invite you to visit ecoad.cbs.com to learn more about the tangible improvements EcoMedia is making in communities across the country.

EcoAd is not a certification program, nor is the EcoAd logo a seal of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoAd advertisers, their products or services.