Is Cable Better Than Puppies? Innovative TV Advertising and Web Site Designed to Break Through

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 2004--The cable industry has launched a new OnlyCableCan integrated marketing campaign, designed to reach the consumer with a unique, imaginative approach, and transcend the traditional cable company advertising in the marketplace today.

"In this execution, cable's advanced services are promoted in a humorous way, intended to cut through the clutter, command attention, and get consumers buzzing," said Joe Rooney, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Cox Communications. "The campaign hypothesizes how cable is so amazing that it's actually better than such beloved things as chocolate, puppies, gravity and the wheel - not to mention satellite and DSL," continued Rooney.

“This is a defining moment for the industry, and this campaign represents cable's ability to compete with a unified, national voice”

First launched in November 2003, the OnlyCableCan initiative, spearheaded by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), brings together top cable companies in a variety of consumer marketing and awareness efforts.

"This is a defining moment for the industry, and this campaign represents cable's ability to compete with a unified, national voice," said Brian E. Kelly, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Time Warner Cable. "OnlyCableCan is an extraordinary accomplishment, and it's critical that cable operators continue working together in this competitive environment," said Kelly.

The cable companies participating are: Adelphia Communications, BendBroadband, Bresnan Communications, Bright House Networks, Buckeye CableSystem, Cable One, Cablevision Systems Corporation, Cebridge Connections, Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Insight Communications, Mediacom Communications and Time Warner Cable.

Char Beales, CTAM President and CEO, stated: "Our goals for this effort are: To continue the momentum of the 2003 campaign; to positively influence how consumers view cable; to acquire new and retain current customers; to leverage our retail and consumer electronics promotions; and to break new ground with a memorable creative approach."

The Key Message: "Cable is Better Than..."

At the foundation of the campaign are two positioning statements, "Cable is Better Than" and "OnlyCableCan," intended to lead the consumer to appreciate cable's unique benefits, including cable's one-stop-shopping for advanced services, such as high-definition television, high-speed Internet and On Demand. Building on these themes, the campaign includes communications vehicles designed to clarify cable's best-in-category role:

-- Television spots developed by New York-based strategic communications firm SS+K.

-- A Web site, http://www.OnlyCableCan.com, designed by Cramer, a leader in integrated media production, based in Norwood, MA.

-- A toll-free number, 1-877-OnlyCable. The toll-free service and Web site are managed by Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. of Louisville, CO and powered by the Go2Broadband(SM) service locator.

"We are using engaging, approachable advertising and Web experience to communicate to consumers that cable offers an array of unbeatable products - from high-speed Internet to the local primetime HD shows to On Demand programming - that satellite can't touch," said Andy Addis, Senior Vice President, Marketing and New Products, Comcast.

Initially, the television spots will air in two flights on 13 networks through the end of the year.

Addis concluded, "Both the ad campaign and OnlyCableCan.com spell out in simple terms how cable's 'best in class' products enrich our customers' lives."

To view the Puppies advertising spot, screen shots, and OnlyCableCan logos, please visit http://www.ctam.com/onlycablecan/.

CTAM, the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, is dedicated to advancing consumer and business-to-business marketing excellence, the mastery of new technologies, and strategic learning in cable, broadband and other emerging media. As the industry's primary professional membership organization, CTAM provides marketing education, information and networking opportunities to its members, through conferences, courses, specialized publications, Web sites, consumer research and an active network of local chapters. The CTAM Educational Foundation and its centerpiece initiative, CTAM's Executive Management Program at the Harvard Business School, are designed to help senior industry executives manage more effectively in a market-driven, consumer-focused environment.