IAR Bits and Bytes
Ad-filtering firm attracts investment; Hill, Holliday to resell WebDialogs; ADC launches ad campaign.
WebWasher Raises Funds for Ad Filtering Software
WebWasher.com, a start-up that produces software that allows Web users to filter out advertisements, said it has closed a second round of financing led by European backers.
The German company, which has U.S headquarters in Silicon Alley, did not disclose the exact amount of the follow-on round. A new investor, TecVenture Partners GmbH, participated with a 1 million EUROS investment and was joined by original investor Siemens Venture Capital and Invision.
The company said the new money would fund the development and marketing of its WebWasher software, which offers businesses a tool for managing Internet access, bandwidth and security.
The company also provides a module to track visual content on Web pages to block unwanted text and images from corporate networks. WebWasher said its free, consumer edition has been downloaded by more than 4 million users worldwide.
WebDialogs Nabs Hill, Holliday as Reseller
Billerica, Mass.-based WebDialogs’s WebInteract services will be resold by ad agency Hill, Holliday, through terms of a deal announced Monday.
The service, known as “click-to-connect” or “click-to-talk,” will enable Boston-based Hill, Holliday’s clients to provide online visitors with Web telephony links to call center or sales personnel.
The service will be sold through Hill, Holliday’s CRM division, which offers call center, fulfillment and analytical consulting services. Through the deal, the unit will operate a Framingham, Mass.-based Web call center to field inquiries from customers of its clients who use WebInteract.
ADC Launches Branding Campaign
Broadband provider ADC Telecommunications this week will debut its new advertising campaign, which it says will promote its brand nationally while targeting key IT decision-makers.
The Minneapolis-based company taped Campbell Mithun to oversee the multimillion dollar campaign, “Broadband Isn’t Broadband Without ADC,” which will seek to position ADC favorably against larger competitors like AT&T.
Full-page and spread ads in national dailies and business publications will show creatives suggesting that ADC is integral to an office’s telecommunications services — using visuals like a wedding cake without a groom figurine, a bowling ball without finger holes, and a smiley face minus the smile.
The ads will appear in national newspapers such as USA Today and The Wall Street Journal; in high-profile international and national business and trade magazines such as Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Red Herring and Business 2.0; and U.S. regional editions of magazines such as Kiplinger’s and Money.
The national print effort is complemented by outdoor and out-of-home work in six key markets.
