ADDY Awards Go Global; AAF and IAA Team Up in Joint Effort To Broaden Size and Scope of Awards Program.

Business Editors

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 31, 2002

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the International Advertising Association (IAA) jointly announced today that the ADDY(R) Awards will broaden in size, scope and stature through the inclusion of international entries, beginning with the 2002-2003 competition.

This significant and unprecedented expansion of the ADDY(R) Awards into a worldwide competition is part of a new tactical alliance between the two internationally known ad industry trade groups.

"With globalization becoming critical to brand building success in the future, the new worldwide ADDY(R) Awards will highlight the fact that quality advertising is without borders," said Wallace S. Snyder, AAF president and CEO.

Walter J. O'Brien Jr., IAA director general added, "The worldwide ADDY(R) Awards will celebrate the vast contributions of cross-cultural advertising. With 49.5 percent of the advertising industry's worldwide value of $1.2 trillion coming from outside the U.S.A., the ADDY(R) Awards will now recognize this new market reality."

The ADDY(R) Awards entry window, for worldwide entries, will begin on November 1, 2002, and the deadline for all entries is February 28, 2003. Importantly, IAA members will qualify for special member entry fees. To reflect the new international scope of the ADDY(R) Awards, judging will take place in Montreal, Canada, May 2-3, 2003.

IAA's 4,400 members in 94 countries will now qualify to compete for an award to be given to the entry judged best of both shows by both the international and U.S. judges.

The ADDY(R) Awards, the world's largest advertising competition and arguably the toughest with over 60,000 entries, honor excellence in advertising and cultivate the highest creative standards in the industry. For more information on the ADDY(R) Awards, visit www.aaf.org or contact Gail Bozeman, vice president-event management at [phone] or [e-mail].

As the "Unifying Voice for Advertising," the American Advertising Federation (AAF), headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a Western Region office in Newport Beach, Calif., is the trade association that represents 50,000 professionals in the advertising industry. AAF's 130 corporate members are advertisers, agencies and media companies that comprise America's leading brands and corporations.

AAF has a national network of 210 ad clubs and connects the industry with an academic base through its 210 college chapters. For more information, visit the award-winning AAF Web site at www.aaf.org.

Founded in 1938, the International Advertising Association (IAA) includes more than 4,400 members in 94 countries, which account for 99 percent of the world's advertising expenditures, including nearly 1000 associate (young professional) members, 76 corporate members, 55 organizational members (other organizations).

The association includes 61 chapters in 59 countries, and the Worldwide Service Center in New York. For more information, visit the IAA's Web site, at www.iaaglobal.org.