Lufthansa Signs on as First Advertiser for Travel Blogs on WPNI's Sponsored Blogroll

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI), the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company, today announced that Lufthansa, one of the world's leading airlines, has signed on as the inaugural advertiser for travel blogs in WPNI's Sponsored Blogroll program (http://adv.washingtonpost.com/blogroll/ ).

Created by the advertising team at WPNI, the Blogroll program is a unique advertising network that, using Adify technology, makes it easy for advertisers to buy standard ad units on individual blogs or across valuable categories of blogs like Travel, Technology, Business, Health, Auto and Politics. WPNI manually selects blogs based on their focus, regularity of posting and professionalism and links those blogs together by subject, giving advertisers an efficient method to reach the blogosphere's young, savvy and highly targeted demographic.

"We are always striving to find innovative ways to serve our advertisers, as well as support the important role bloggers play in our new media world. When we came up with this program, we knew we had an unbeatable solution for both," said Jeff Burkett, head of Sales Development, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive. "Lufthansa is a globally respected brand that invests in innovation, which is what makes them a natural fit to sponsor our program's travel blogs."

Blogs partnered with Blogroll benefit from having WPNI's sales force selling ads as an extension of ads sold across WPNI, and additionally receive a rotating spot on the washingtonpost.com homepage, which gets millions of page views per day. A completely open and transparent arrangement, bloggers can keep their existing ad relationships and have complete control over which ads get served on their site.

Lufthansa, a WPNI advertising partner for a number of years, included the travel Blogroll program in its online media plan to reach washingtonpost.com's audience in an engaged and highly relevant environment. While the ad units are standard formats, the tie-in with over 100 travel blogs is unique. Lufthansa's campaign aims to communicate the airline's extensive route network and premium service to over 100 European cities and beyond. In the banners, Lufthansa puts the passenger at the center of the communication, documenting and celebrating the special moment of satisfaction which creates trust in the airline and is summarized in the campaign's slogan, "All for this one moment."

"As one of the world's most innovative airlines, we are especially pleased with the opportunity WPNI's Blogroll presents to reach the young, affluent audience that participates in the blogosphere," said Marcus Casey, Director of Marketing and Customer Relations, North America, Lufthansa. "Advertising on washingtonpost.com and the travel blogs in WPNI's Blogroll was a natural choice, given the benefits of exposure to an important Lufthansa audience."

WPNI is using Adify to power Blogroll for the flexible Build Your Own Network platform which minimized the complexity of creating a new, customized ad network from scratch.

About Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). Its mission is to create truly interactive platforms that offer unmatched user experiences by developing editorial products with world-class reporting and award-winning content.

WPNI's news and information sites, which include washingtonpost.com, Slate, Newsweek.com and Budget Travel Online, inform and encourage conversation and debate while reaching millions of unique and active users each month. WPNI properties' long lists of awards include the first-ever Emmy for original video journalism online awarded to washingtonpost.com.

The company is headquartered in Arlington, VA.

About Lufthansa

One of the world's largest airlines, Lufthansa flies to some 183 destinations in 78 countries, including 19 North American gateways. Together with its partners, Lufthansa serves 411 destinations in more than 96 countries worldwide. An industry leader known for its focus on innovation, Lufthansa in 2004 unveiled the industry's only First Class departure terminal, boasting personal assistants and chauffeured transfer to flights. Catering to its extensive business and luxury traveler audience, in March 2005 the airline launched Lufthansa Private Jet, which provides travelers arriving in the airline's Frankfurt and Munich hubs with exclusive seamless travel by private plane to more than 1,000 airports in Europe, Israel and the Russian Federation. For more information or reservations, visit lufthansa.com, see your travel agent or call Lufthansa reservations at 800-645-3880.