BusinessWeek Online Launches Innovation & Design Channel; New Section Unveiled in Conjunction with the Magazine's Special Report on The Creative Corporation.

NEW YORK -- BusinessWeek Online, the award-winning Web site of BusinessWeek magazine, which is published weekly by the McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has launched the Innovation & Design channel at www.businessweek.com/innovate. The new section debuts with the magazine's special report on the creative corporation, on newsstands now.

"Innovation and design are becoming must-have competencies for corporations," said Kathy Rebello, BusinessWeek Online executive editor. "We are proud to be the first site to offer such in-depth and comprehensive information to our readers on this growing area of business."

All of the channel's content is free, and includes innovation metrics and self diagnostic tools for companies to rank their own performance, a brand scoreboard, and a list of the most innovative companies. A blog to facilitate more discussion on the topic of innovation and design is one of the future additions to the new channel. Other sub-sections for the channel include:

--Car Buff - Cutting edge design, automobile shows, and reviews. Also featured will be interactive slide shows such as, "Cars for a Mid-Life Crisis;" "Driving Force," a column about car culture; and customer satisfaction ratings from industry leader, JD Power.

--Brand Equity - Case studies on the anatomy of a brand, a look at product placement in movies, and features covering brand strategies on the Web. "The Logo Doctors" column will offer advice and solutions on editorial and strategic design.

--Game Room - Game reviews, a list of top downloads, and sneak peaks of upcoming video games. An additional feature enables users to download part of a game to test it out.

--Architecture - Showcases homes, commercial buildings, materials, products, interiors and up-and-coming architects and designers.

The Innovation & Design Channel will feature columns written by design experts such as Tim Brown, President of IDEO; Yves Behar, founder of fuseprojects; Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management; Jeneane Rae, co-founder of Peer Insight; Gianfranco Zaccai, head of Design Continuum; Craig Vogel, Jonathan Cagan, Peter Boatwright of Carnegie Mellon and the University of Cincinnati; Patrick Whiney, director of the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology; and Lorraine Justice, Swire Chair and Head of the School of Design At Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Strategic partners, who are contributing content to the Innovation & Design Channel include Doblin; JD Power; Architectural Record; AIGA, the professional association for design; Art Center College of Design; BrandChannel.com; Car Design News; Core77; the Design Management Institute (DMI); GameDAILY; and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). Core77 also powers the new Design Firm Directory, as well as the Design Job Board.

The Innovation & Design section joins the roster of existing channels at BusinessWeek Online including Investing, Global Biz, Technology, Small Biz, B-Schools, and Careers.

BusinessWeek Online (www.businessweek.com), a recipient of the 2000 National Magazine Award for General Excellence in New Media, brings global coverage to the Internet. BusinessWeek Online, launched on AOL in December 1994 and the Web site was launched in October 1996. At Businessweek.com, users have access to exclusive online content, including business and financial news, investment advice, small business, tech insights, as well as a first look at the current issue of the magazine each week. BusinessWeek Online also features a host of interactive resources to help professionals climb the corporate ladder or increase their stake in the stock market.