AMERICA ONLINE PUSHES INTO CANADA
By Adnews Staff
America Online came to Canada yesterday, armed with the same marketing plan it has used in the United States and Europe. The commercial computer network service is primarily going after the home market. It is sending out trial copies of its America Online CDs by direct mail, and is also bundling them with copies of Shift magazine and two products from the financial software maker Intuit: Quicken and Quickstep. The company is running television commericals on CHUM Ltd properties, MuchMusic, Citytv and CKVR, in Barrie, Ont. Advertising in the U.S. is handled by TBWA Chiat/Day in New York. America Online has made a deal to carry MuchMusic and City content, allowing subscribers to download audio and video clips from bands featured on the television services, or to submit clips of their own music. America Online will also carry clips of people spouting off at City's Speakers Corner, and allow subscribers to record their own opinions on-line. The U.S.-based company claims 4.5 million subcribers in the U.S., Germany and the U.K.