AutoTrader.com Announces Biggest Media Buy to Date

AutoTrader.com Announces Biggest Media Buy to Date

Diversified campaign on 11 networks spans key car buying season

ATLANTA, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoTrader.com, the smarter place to buy and sell a car, today announced a multimillion dollar media buy that extends across 11 different networks and will run over 1,900 spots from now through September. AutoTrader.com will also advertise on over 90 billboards, featuring many of the primetime television programs they're sponsoring.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031021/AUTOLOGO)

In addition to running AutoTrader.com commercials, stations will also feature promotions and sweepstakes, vignettes, online extensions and brand integration in programs. The 11 networks and the respective sponsorships, promotions and/or sweepstakes include: ABC, sponsoring Jimmy Kimmel Live!; CBS, sponsoring NCAA Championship, The Late Show and The Late Late Show; Comedy Central, National Car Care Month vignettes; ESPN/ESPN2, sponsoring NFL Draft Special and Inside the Numbers; Fox Sports Net, The Best Damn Sports Show Period audience member to receive money toward purchase of a car and presenting sponsor of First Dibs; FX, AutoTrader.com night sponsoring King of the Hill, That 70's Show and a movie; Lifetime, consumer sweepstakes, vignettes and AutoTrader.com Buying Guide on LifeTimeTV.com; MTV, Pimp My Ride promotion, winner will choose car from AutoTrader.com and MTV will have the car "pimped-out"; NBC, sponsoring The Tonight Show, Late Night, season finales of Crossing Jordan and My Name is Earl, series finales of West Wing and Will & Grace; TBS, advertising in top shows and movies; TNT, sponsoring Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes with an online trivia promotion and TNT NBA Playoff Fantasy game.

"Since AutoTrader.com's audience has continued to grow and diversify, we needed an aggressive media plan to reflect that and to continue to reach a broad audience of car shoppers," said Clark Wood, vice president marketing, AutoTrader.com. "This campaign will be key to introducing the site to new audiences and in driving even more consumers to AutoTrader.com to buy and sell cars."

About AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location more than 2.8 million vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners, which provide the largest selection of vehicles attracting more than 11 million qualified buyers each month. Through innovative merchandising products such as multiple photos and comprehensive search functionality, AutoTrader.com unites buyer and seller online -- dramatically improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles.

AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Other investors include Landmark Communications, ADP, Inc., and the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031021/AUTOLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: AutoTrader.com

CONTACT: Louise Barr of AutoTrader.com, +1-404-568-5943, or
louise.barr@autotrader.com

Web site: http://www.autotrader.com/

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