New York—The Diamond Promotion Service (DPS) has established a $750,000 co-op fund that will help retailers advertise on television in local markets using Internet-based ad agency Spot Runner.

The fund is designed to cover 40 percent of retailers' Journey Diamond Jewelry advertising media, jumpstarting their holiday marketing programs with a four-week campaign in November. Retailers can leverage this co-op funding and align their stores' brand with the national "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign, while also pushing Journey, which generated almost $1 billion in sales in the first six months of its launch.

Spot Runner will facilitate the advertising process, which is available to any independent retailer selling Journey.

Program details include:

* Retailers can use one of two available DPS 30-second Journey television spots created by Spot Runner. For additional consideration, Spot Runner has also developed 30- and 60-second Journey radio commercials that retailers can use in conjunction with the TV campaign.
* The ads will be customized with retailers' information (location, phone number, store logo, graphics and Web site address if applicable), as well as a customized voiceover.
* Participating retailers will pay 60 percent of their scheduled media plan with the DPS providing 40 percent, up to $20,000 per retailer.
* Eligible air dates for the campaign are Oct. 29 to Nov. 25. Orders must be placed by Oct. 22. If there are scheduling issues within the four-week plan, there may be some flexibility to adjust on a case-by-case basis.

Availability for the program is limited. For more information and to get started, visit the DPS Web site, DPS.org, or call Spot Runner at (888) 943-7768.