The £325,000 campaign is being run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and will appear in print ads and direct mail, with the strapline "Online: The interactive ingredient".
It was created by integrated agency Masius, the first agency that the IAB has recruited. The first wave of activity targets marketers not connected with the online advertising arena, with the ads comparing online advertising to posters, reading a newspaper and watching 'Coronation Street'.
There will also be a quarterly publication aimed at marketers, with a print run of 120,000, backed by further print and online activity next year. The IAB is aiming to capture 2% of the advertising market by autumn 2004.
Danny Meadows-Klue, chief executive of the IAB, said: "Online now offers audience reach that matches television and other traditional media. It is time to shout about its success. Internet advertising is about to come of age. It is the fastest-growing advertising medium and already half the size of the radio industry."
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