Creative Manager Pro links to Strata Media Buying System

Creative Manager Pro, Ad Agency Software and Project Management Software for Creative and Design firms, in conjunction with Strata Marketing, announced the release of Creative Media Manager, a new product bridging Creative Manager Pro and Strata's media systems.

(PRWEB) September 27, 2004 -- Creative Manager, Inc., provider of Creative Manager Pro, and Strata Marketing, Inc., providers of the Strata line of media management systems, jointly announced today the release of Creative Media Manager. The new program, Creative Media Manager forms a bridge between the two systems, allowing information to be strategically shared.

Creative Media Manager is incorporated as a standard feature of Creative Manager Pro in the new version 7.3 release. Using the new Creative Media Manager features, users of Creative Manager Pro will be able to share media buy information from the Strata media buying system. Media buy insertion orders placed in the Strata system for scheduling and placement, will be directly read by Creative Manager Pro for project management, budgeting and further processing. This tight integration takes advantage of the advanced media buying abilities built into Strata, and the industry-leading agency management features in Creative Manager Pro.

No installation or conversion will be necessary, and the update is free to all users of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro.

Ron Ause, Director of Marketing for Creative Manager, Inc., said "We're continually increasing functionality month after month. This month, we're excited because Strata is an industry leader in media buying. With our ability to manage the agency, and Strata's ability to manage the media buying, we've covered our client's needs from end to end with industry-standard systems."

Peter Nason, Director of Marketing at Strata Marketing, Inc., said "Strata is THE solution for media buying in this industry. And Creative Manager Pro is THE solution for the managing the important projects in the firm. Our new association with Creative Manager Pro extends our reach even further. With 10,000 media professionals at over 700 agencies and buying services licensing Strata for Radio, TV, Print, Cable and Outdoor, it's no small wonder that we're the industry standard! With Creative Media Manager and Creative Manager Pro, the client is clearly the winner."

Stratas many features will empower the media professional in a variety of ways including the ability to:

- Quickly and easily buy Radio, TV, Cable, Print and Outdoor

- Take Advantage of Stratas Strong Research and Reporting capabilities

- Build Avails/Schedules in Seconds

- Generate Dozens of Insertion Orders within Multiple Formats

- Perform Multi-Media Reach & Frequency for Radio, TV and Print

- Create Multi-Market Research Reports

- Generate Traffic Instructions, Tracking & Reporting

- Make Invoice Matching & Reconciliation Fast and Easy

- EDI for Electronic Invoicing-- No more paper!

- Create Makegoods & Schedule Revisions

- Send any Media Report to MS-Word & Excel for Customization

- Better Negotiate Rates with Stations and Take Control of Each Buy!

- EC/EDI (electronic contracting/electronic data interchange) Media Buyers and TV Stations can send each other rate requests, receive avails, exchange proposals, and accept or reject broadcast orders with just a few computer keystrokes.

For Creative Manager, this integration is the second update this month, after the new invoicing and reporting features, and the upgrade for iSync 1.5 in August.

When asked about the new features, Ause said "We didn't just export to Strata - we're reading and writing directly to their database! Try that with another Ad Agency system!"

Creative Manager Pro goes beyond costing to offer full Project Management, CRM, Digital Asset Management, billing and accounting, and Extranet capabilities.

Creative Manager Pro (at http://www.Creative-Manager.com), is the only Ad Agency software and Project Management Software for the Creative Design industry, created exclusively for design firms, ad agencies, in-house creative/MarCom departments, and creative service firms. It is a web-based integrated project management software and job tracking solution which streamlines the entire firm, from developing new business, to staffing, managing, and executing projects through to accounting and financial reporting.

Creative Manager Pro is a full-featured, intuitive system which makes project and ad agency management a breeze. Creative Manager Pro supports Customer Relationship Management, Document Management, Shared Calendaring, Accounting and much more. Because it is web-based, there is nothing to install and it can be set up in a single day. It works with both PC and Macintosh from any location over any connection. It may also be installed locally on the client's own servers. All options include training and support to ensure that clients are up and running quickly.

Among the many features of Creative Manager Pro:

- Graphically view your firm's metrics - manage your firm by the numbers.

- Manage Contacts and Leads

- Create Project Schedules, Calendars and Manage Tasks

- Take your contacts and calendar on the road with iCal, AddressBook & Outlook

- Approve Timesheets, Purchasing, Billing and Budgets

- Review and Approve Artwork Online

- Store and Manage Digital Assets

- Manage and Balance the Books

- Free client and vendor access to streamline workflow.

- Quick startup/import from Clients & Profits, Adman and other systems

- Full-featured CRM (Client Relationship Management)

- Extranet capabilities

- Manage media with an interface with Strata

- Charting of important industry metrics and firm statistics

Take a test drive at http://www.Creative-Manager.com

The team members at Creative Manager, Inc. have been leaders in ad agency software and project management software for the creative industry and on the Mac OS for over 26 years. They provide their creative clients with two major offerings: Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. Both programs work seamlessly with the Mac OS and Windows.

Strata Marketing, Inc. is based in Chicago IL, with offices at

30 West Monroe

Suite 1900

Chicago IL 60603

http://www.strataG.com

Contact Info:

Peter Nason pnason@stratag.com

Strata Marketing, Inc.

312.222.1555 x144

Creative Manager, Inc. is based in Lakewood NJ, with offices at

111 Madison Avenue

Lakewood NJ 08701

800.203.7684

http://www.Creative-Manager.com

Contact Info:

Ron Ause rona@Creative-Manager.com

Creative Manager, Inc.

800.203.7684 x3051

communicate. collaborate. control.

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