Phase2Media

Phase2Media, the New York-based interactive advertising and marketing network, today announced that it has entered into partnerships with publishing company Hachette Filipacchi Media, also of New York, and Internet service provider Prodigy, of White Plains, N.Y.
Under the separate agreements, Phase2- Media will serve as the exclusive online advertising sales rep for Prodigy and for all of Hachette’s online properties, which include the Web sites for Premiere, Car & Driver, George and Elle magazines, among others.
In addition, Phase2-Media will establish dedicated in-house teams to handle the needs of these new partners.
Phase2Media has re-cruited more than 50 sites to its network since the company launched its services last April, said chairman and CEO Richy Glassberg. The advertising and marketing network is the official online ad sales rep for the Summer Olympic Games and counts AmericanGreetings.com, NeoPlanet and the Web site for Maxim magazine among its network partners.
Phase2Media’s services go beyond purchasing advertising for partners, and the newly inked deals highlight its strategy, Glassberg pointed out. Rather than dumping inventory into vast ad networks, “our model is to represent on a brand-by-brand basis,” he said.
In the case of Hachette, the advertising sales team for the Hachette Web sites will become employees of Phase2Media’s newly created P2M Hachette New Media Division. This will allow the ad sales team for the Web sites to focus on better serving the ad needs of the sites, according to Jack Kliger, president and CEO of Hachette Filipacchi Magazines.
“This is the business that Phase2Media is expert in,” Kliger said. “Their culture is attuned to selling advertising on the Web and we wanted to put our best foot forward in terms of handling that responsibility with people who understand our sites.”
Both Glassberg and Kliger noted that the opportunity for synergy and integrated ad package buys was likely and possible as the P2M Hachette and Hachette print teams worked in tandem.
For Prodigy Internet–which in the past year has experienced nearly 200 percent growth following several years of declining membership–the Phase2Media agreement will help boost the company “to the next level of play,” said Susan Sachatello, general manager at Prodigy Internet.
“We’ve had ad representation before, but this is much different than what we’ve had in the past,” said Sachatello. “What we’ve partnered with is a much more seasoned team.” She said Prodigy’s in-house team would leverage and support the P2M Prodigy Division.