Advanstar, Inc. Launches B2B e-Commerce Brand: Hive4.com Thriving marketplaces for transactions and leading news and market information.

Business/Technology Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2000

Advanstar, Inc., a worldwide business information company today unveiled Hive4.com(TM), the new brand for its planned B2B e-commerce web communities. Advanstar.com, the online subsidiary of Advanstar, Inc. will do business as Hive4.com. Each planned industry-specific e-commerce web community will bear the name Hive4.com and will be identified by industry as well. Hive4.com plans to launch 20 business-to-business e-commerce web communities in the next 18 months, including MagicOnline, the Hive4.com community for the fashion and apparel industries.

Hive4.com Communities

The Hive4.com communities will feature a rich mix of editorial content, product information in a transactional database engine, and features such as messaging, discussion forums, conferences, and other forms of e-learning for each industry community.

"The advantage of having Advanstar as a parent while still being a separate entity is our ability to build an integrated offering of high-quality content and new web-based functionality," said Jean-Marc Levy, Hive4.com's President & CEO. "Our community members will have access to Advanstar's editorial talent and market knowledge from magazines such as Hotel & Motel Management and America's Network. In addition, Hive4.com communities will feature third party content, a rich database of product information from top companies, and unique tools and services for each industry."

The Hive4.com mission is to become the leading business-to-business Internet market-maker bringing buyers and sellers together in selected vertical communities. By integrating content, business and transaction-enabling services and relationships, Hive4.com will provide a highly personalized environment to facilitate customer interaction.

"What really distinguishes us is the mix of content and tools available through our communities," Levy also said. "A great many B2B e-commerce sites promise content, but they can't deliver as much as we can. With us, it's built-in because we're a sister company of Advanstar Communications and thus have access to more than 200 leading industry information sources like magazines and directories and market-making tradeshows and conferences. In addition, we are committed to providing the critical mass of product information necessary for the business buyer to specify, select, and purchase on the web. To sellers, it's a low-risk, 7 by 24, global sales channel. To advertisers, it's a marketing platform with powerful targeting. To industry professionals, it's a key information source and place to connect."

Hive4.com will feature community building services such as conferences and seminars, network messaging, and the ability for members to interact with other members, whether buyers or sellers, in a virtual value-chain environment. Hive4.com expects to make pricing information available throughout its product database by allowing flexible buyer and seller access control. Members will be able to select the companies with which they do business, and offer tiered pricing, specials, and promotions.

"Hive4.com communities are global, around-the-clock, informative and interactive, and they mirror the way the business buyer and business seller are accustomed to interacting," said Keith Kreisher, Hive4.com's Chief Operating Officer. "We're not replacing the way people do business, we're extending it and speeding it up."

Developing the Hive4.com Brand

The brand development team chose the Hive4.com name for its ability to convey the idea of intense activity within the communities and to reflect the organic growth expected from continuous member interaction. The visual identity incorporates a bold black and yellow image of two bees facing one another as a visual representation of the B2B marketplace.

The Hive4.com team worked with Frankfurt Balkind, a New York-based integrated communications agency, to develop the name.

"Naming this company involved creating an overall corporate brand and a unique identity for the 20 vertical industries Hive4.com serves," said Aubrey Balkind, CEO of Frankfurt Balkind. "The umbrella brand communicates the activity of e-commerce, generally. The vertical brands, such as Hive4travel or Hive4hospitality communicate the activity surrounding those specific vertical industries."

About Hive4.com

Hive4.com, based in New York, is a business unit of Advanstar.com (a subsidiary of Advanstar, Inc. and a sister company of Advanstar Communications Inc.). Hive4.com is an online market-maker, focused on creating comprehensive business-to-business e-commerce web communities. Hive4.com communities feature integrated news and editorial content, industry-specific product information, user interaction facilities and purchasing tools. Hive4.com communities are designed to provide indispensable information and real-transactional resources for professionals in specific markets. Hive4.com will launch 20 communities over the next 18 months. For more information, visit Hive4.com.

About Advanstar Communications Inc.

Advanstar Communications Inc. is a worldwide business information company serving specialized markets with high-quality information resources and integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 103 top business and professional publications, 101 exhibitions and conferences, 79 Web sites, and a wide range of direct marketing, database and reference products and services. Advanstar serves targeted market sectors in such industries as retail, hospitality, beauty, fashion, healthcare, pharmaceutical, communications, manufacturing and processing. The company has more than 1,400 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia.