Zimmerman Advertising Wastes No Time Leading Media Buying into the 21st Century

Zimmerman Advertising Wastes No Time Leading Media Buying into the 21st Century

Z-Media Exchange Offers Revolutionary Technology That Makes a Dramatic Difference to the Clients' ROI

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimmerman Advertising has found a way to modernize media buying, finally bringing it into the 21st century. Z-Media Exchange totally revolutionizes media buying by applying the patented Zimmerman philosophy: Business first. Respond at the speed of retail. Help clients execute a takeover in their respective marketplaces.

It's staggering to contemplate -- half of the commercial broadcast airtime available goes unsold every week. Yes -- 1 million spots nationwide are bought and paid for -- but another 1 million or more go completely to waste. Trust the mavericks at Zimmerman Advertising to find a way to utilize that inventory, save clients money, increase ROI, buy media more effectively, and operate faster and smarter. The nation's 15th largest agency leads the way again.

Z-Media Exchange is a win-win partnership between Zimmerman and SoftWave Media Exchange, Inc., a leading electronic advertising marketplace for radio and television. Powered by SWMX's technology, Z-Media Exchange gives Zimmerman's team a web-based interface in the style of Priceline.com, where they can instantly grab up available inventory in radio, cable and local broadcast television for its clients' sustaining (flighted) and direct response campaigns.

Executive Vice President of Media Services Fred Zuckerman says, "Let me give you an example of how it used to work up until now. Wickes Furniture finds out on a Friday afternoon that the competition is having a big sale that weekend. My agency calls the local station to try and buy spots for Saturday and Sunday, and we're told to call back on Monday, because no one can turn our buy around fast enough to get it on air. This will never be an issue for our clients again."

The Z-Media Exchange's click-and-buy interface allows its media team to look up the inventory in a market, see the price set for the desired spots, bid on them and then send the ad -- all in a matter of minutes. It's that simple.

"In addition to the incredible power to buy spots at discounted prices, this system allows us to analyze and quantify every single broadcast ad buy, assess its effectiveness against other spots, and determine which market received the best response, in a way similar to our patented Z-Trac system that has attracted many of our clients," says President and COO Pat Patregnani. "This is another revolutionary service we can now provide that will make a significant difference to a client's ROI."

The ability to streamline operations at Zimmerman is tremendous. This new technology will be a tremendous tool for the team of expert retail strategists at the agency, making them even more powerful and agile than ever before. The team distributes hundreds of commercials every day to television, radio and cable outlets and the potential for the Z-Media Exchange to simplify this process is nothing short of brilliant.

"Think of the power of a system like this in the lead up to the presidential election in 2008," says Founder and Chairman Jordan Zimmerman. "In the next year, it's expected that each candidate will be spending as much as $600 million on media. If they could utilize a system like this to buy time more effectively, and track specific results, a candidate could become agile in a way never before seen in the political arena. I am proud of my team for working with SWMX to refine and develop this incredible tool that will again put Zimmerman in the forefront for revolutionary ideas that are shaping Madison Avenue."

"Zimmerman is an organization that puts a high premium on innovation, progress and best leveraging our market knowledge to drive performance and ROI both internally and for our clients," adds Zuckerman. "SWMX shares that commitment, and with the integration of their electronic marketplace technology, our agency will be at the forefront of the industry's evolution to a more results-driven and efficient model of delivering value in media, enhancing speed to market with the flexibility needed in a competitive retail marketplace."

"The opportunity to partner with a market leader like Zimmerman is a tremendous validation of SWMX's media exchange model," said Mike Caprio, EVP of SWMX. "Zimmerman has been integral to helping refine functional elements of the SWMX marketplace to best meet the needs of leading advertisers and the internal needs of the agency. With a unique combination of, buying leverage, market insight and a drive to innovate with a singular focus on maximizing results, we could not ask for a better partner as we continue working together to redefine business processes for the broadcast media industry.

Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale Florida, Zimmerman Advertising, an Omnicom Group(TM) company, is currently the 15th largest advertising agency in the United States, with more than 1,000 full-time associates and offices throughout the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Atlanta.

Omnicom Group (NYSE:OMC) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

Founded in 2005, SWMX, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, SoftWave Media Exchange (www.swmx.com), provide an efficient, dynamic and transparent open marketplace for the purchase, sale, management and distribution of advertising media time. The SWMX Marketplace currently includes SWMX Radio(TM) and SWMX Television(TM). SWMX Radio(TM) serves a broad range of advertisers, agencies and Fortune 500 companies. It also serves nearly 2,000 leading radio stations across the U.S. representing all of the top 15 broadcast groups, 50 of the top 50 U.S. markets, 47 of the top 50 stations and a national daily audience of over 12 million listeners, or 40% of the total U.S. broadcast radio market, according to Arbitron. SWMX Television(TM) serves the local spot cable market, delivering access to a daily cable audience of millions of viewers representing all major networks.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Zimmerman Advertising

CONTACT: Shamin Abas for Zimmerman Advertising, +1-561-366-1226 or
+1-917-494-9288, shamin@shaminabaspr.com

Web site: http://www.zadv.com/
http://www.swmx.com/

---

Profile: International Entertainment