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Press Releases
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Tara Arnold
Rand McNally
tarnold@randmcnally.com
(847) 329-6850
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Paul Elsberg
The Reynolds Communications Group
pelsberg@reynoldsgroup.com
(847) 675-8100, Ext. 106
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Rand McNally Launches An Expanded, Online Version of its Commercial Atlas &
Marketing Guide
Commercial Atlas Online is a first-of-its-kind geo-referenced, economic and demographic planning
tool for strategic business planning and decisions
SKOKIE, Ill. - July 27, 2004 - Rand McNally, North America's largest Commercial mapmaker, today
launched the Commercial Atlas Online, a web-based, interactive version of Rand McNally's Commercial
Atlas & Marketing Guide. Commercial Atlas Online extends the time-tested capabilities of the print guide
by providing extensive economic, demographic and business information in interactive form to further
improve and facilitate business planning and decisions. Its broad functionality and comprehensive
information make the Commercial Atlas Online an unrivaled tool on the market.
"The Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide has been an invaluable tool for current business planning and
marketing data since 1876," said Robert Apatoff, Rand McNally president and chief executive officer. "The
Commercial Atlas Online is a web-based counterpart to our trusted print resource that will provide business
users with the flexibility to obtain mission-critical economic and demographic data in both traditional
'library' reference and interactive analytical formats."
Interactive Maps & Reports Aid Strategic Business Decisions
Commercial Atlas Online includes all existing Commercial Atlas geographies and data such as the Ranally
Trading Areas and population data with new, more detailed data sets such as income data and specific
industry sales data. The 'Rand McNally Places' feature contains location information and maps for more
than 120,000 localities, including 41,000 places not covered by U.S. Census data. All Commercial Atlas
Online data are based on the most recent census and updated with current-year estimates and five-year
projections.
Users can overlay data sets onto a map area to geographically visualize economic and demographic
information. The end-reports can be emailed, saved or exported to other compatible applications. Commercial
Atlas Online's interactive data reports may be used for business planning activities including site/location
planning, market analysis and new product-line introductions.
Industries that may benefit from the tool include manufacturing, pharmaceutical, retail, real estate,
insurance, finance, utilities and government. Business consultants, market researchers, market analysts,
sales analysts, economic analysts, site location analysts, facility planners, market planners and their
respective management groups will specially benefit from the use of this tool.
Unlike other online demographic query tools, the Commercial Atlas Online is a strategic and economic
planning tool that provides businesses with in-depth retail sales and merchandise data. It can provide an
understanding of the supply and demand of products or services on a geographic basis. The relatively broad
level of geographic aggregation also represents a new solution for marketing resource deployment and economic
planning problems.
The Commercial Atlasmaps allow users to view and print any high-quality maps from the Rand McNally
Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide. These include thematic maps such as U.S. Major Highways and the U.S.
Drive Times & Mileage Map, business maps such as U.S. Basic & Major Trading Areas and Retail Sales by County,
in addition to the regular State/City/County maps.
The Commercial Atlas Online will be licensed to individuals or companies as a subscription service. The
first-year introductory price for a basic, single-user license is $495. Additional data insights are
available at prices ranging from $995 to $4,995, depending on selected data layers. Subscribers will access
the Commercial Atlas Online at commercialatlas.randmcnally.com.
Partners Help Ensure Reliable Data, Performance
Commercial Atlas Online is a Rand McNally initiative in conjunction with partners Tactician Corp. and
Devonshire Associates. Tactician Corp. is a leading software and services provider of integrated sales,
marketing and media solutions for developing and executing geographically targeted resource and investment
decisions. Its products are used by some of the world's largest corporations to improve productivity.
"Tactician is thrilled to provide the interactive mapping technology that puts Rand McNally's trusted
Commercial Atlas in the hands of millions of businesses via the Internet," said Steve Webster, chief
operating officer of Tactician Corp.
Devonshire Associates Ltd. is a leading provider of marketing information products and services. The
company produces geo-based demographic, economic, consumer segmentation and business data for desktop and
internet applications.
"We are excited to be expanding our relationship with Rand McNally with the introduction of this
product," said John Rafferty, president and chief executive officer of Devonshire. "The Commercial Atlas
Online is a natural extension of the book without the limitations of a published format. The online
environment allows us to deliver, literally, 1,000 times the amount of information previously offered. This
will provide business users access to the most comprehensive demographic and economic data library
available.
About Rand McNally
Rand McNally & Company, founded in 1856, is America's indispensable travel guide, providing mapping,
routing and trip-planning tools for the consumer, business, education and commercial transportation
markets. The company produces print and electronic products featuring national and local maps for the
United States and Canada, including the Rand McNally Road Atlas and Thomas Guide s®. Rand McNally offers
trip planning on randmcnally.com. For more information, call 800/333-0136 or visit www.randmcnally.com.
About Tactician Corporation
Headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, Tactician Corporation is a leading software and services
provider of integrated sales, marketing and media solutions used for developing and executing geographically
targeted resource and investment decisions. For more information about Tactician, please visit www.tactician.com.
About Devonshire
Devonshire Associates Ltd. is a leading provider of marketing information products and services.
Devonshire produces geo-based demographic, economic, consumer segmentation and business data. Devonshire also
provides geomarket and customer analytic services to companies nationwide. More information on Devonshire is
available at www.devonline.com.
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