Freedom Communications Partners with BAT to Give Local Advertisers New Access to Athlete Endorsements

Freedom Communications Partners with BAT to Give Local Advertisers New Access to Athlete Endorsements

Advertisers of All Sizes Can Tap Branding Power of Endorsements with Targeted Online Ad Campaigns

IRVINE, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc. (BAT), the company bringing athlete and celebrity endorsements to the web, and Freedom Communications, a national information and entertainment company of print publications, broadcast television stations and interactive businesses, have partnered to give advertisers the ability to reach consumers in local markets with targeted online endorsement ad campaigns.

Advertisers can now easily launch campaigns featuring celebrity athletes on Freedom Communications' online media properties, which include web sites that complement its 33 daily newspapers (including The Orange County Register); more than 70 weekly newspapers, magazines, and specialty publications; and eight broadcast television network affiliates.

"BAT lifts the barriers that have historically excluded most local advertisers from athlete and celebrity endorsements, by providing an efficient and cost-effective way to launch campaigns featuring local talent," said Doug Bennett, President of Freedom Communications, Inc.'s Interactive division. "Our advertisers have a new opportunity to align their brands with 'fan favorites' and reach consumers in local and regional markets with relevant and compelling messages."

National, regional, and local advertisers use BAT's Platform to identify and deploy the most appropriate talent for their brands and markets from a roster of more than 2,700 athletes and celebrities. Once an endorsement deal is offered and accepted, advertisers use video and still assets to build compelling creative. Campaigns can be executed in a fraction of the time it takes for a traditional endorsement deal.

BAT-enabled ad campaigns deliver significant results as measured by both direct-response and branding metrics. In-market analysis found that BAT-enabled ad campaigns deliver an average of 13.5 times advertisers' typical conversion rates and 3.5 times advertisers' typical click-through rates. BAT-enabled advertising also resulted in a 180% increase in brand awareness and a 27% increase in purchase intent when comparing campaigns featuring athletes to the same ads with no endorsement, according to an independent study.

"Freedom Communications is helping to usher in a new era of endorsements, where advertisers can reach highly engaged local audiences with campaigns featuring 'hometown heroes,'" said Ryan Steelberg, President and CEO of BAT. "With endorsements, local and regional advertisers are taking a play from marketing all-stars and making it their own - maximizing the impact of local media buys by tapping into the passion and loyalty that sports fans have for their favorite athletes."

About Freedom Communications

Freedom Communications, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a national privately owned information and entertainment company of print publications, broadcast television stations and interactive businesses. The company's print portfolio includes more than 100 daily and weekly publications, including just over 30 daily newspapers, plus ancillary magazines and other specialty publications. The broadcast company's stations - five CBS, two ABC network affiliates and one CW affiliate - reach more than 3 million households across the country. The Company's news, information and entertainment websites complement its print and broadcast properties.

About Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc. (BAT)

Founded in 2007, BAT (http://brandaffinity.net/) is reinventing the business of endorsement marketing for the online world by making it easy and affordable for advertisers of all sizes to launch ad campaigns featuring athletes and celebrities. Advertisers use BAT's Endorsement Platform to identify, license, and activate the most effective talent for their campaigns, based on brand and targeting considerations. Currently, BAT's Platform features more than 2,700 top athletes and celebrities in markets nationwide, and is used by leading advertisers to build brand value and boost campaign performance. BAT's celebrity roster includes Olympic athletes and marquee active and retired players in nearly every sport, including Drew Brees (NFL), Matt Cain (MLB), Paul Pierce (NBA), Brooks Robinson (MLB - Hall of Fame), Emmitt Smith (NFL - retired), and Lennox Lewis (Boxing).

Source: Brand Affinity Technologies, Inc.

CONTACT: Tricia McKenna or Michele Fox, Louder Than Words, for BAT,
+1-781-487-0002, bat@louderthanwords.com; Eric Morgan, Communications
Consultant, Freedom Communications, Inc., +1-949-253-2346,
emorgan@freedom.com

Web Site: http://brandaffinity.net/

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