CREATION - Delivering rich media on email marketing

<p>The recent launch of Media Genesis by Dr SK Fung - the former </p><p>general manager of TVB International and founder of CNBC Asia - is to </p><p>help customers deliver personalised, permission-based email marketing </p><p>services in Asian languages by deploying technology from software </p><p>provider Xchange. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With an estimated 500 million email boxes anticipated worldwide by the </p><p>end of this year, The Body Shop and Time Inc Asia are among Media </p><p>Genesis' first clients in Hong Kong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The marketing product, backed by Internet consultancy firm Icon </p><p>Medialab, implements rich media email, featuring technology from Radical </p><p>Communication, which allows companies to incorporate audio, video and </p><p>animation into email. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the service can help clients acquire new customers, Dr Fung </p><p>stressed companies must initially utilise their own mailing lists. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We don't own and we don't sell email lists, so we are truly independent </p><p>and there is no conflict of interest ... We are as comfortable working </p><p>with Coca-Cola as we are working with Pepsi at the same time," Dr Fung </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Further, Dr Fung said, unlike unsolicited Spam, the service allows </p><p>customers to choose if they wish to continue receiving the information </p><p>or would prefer to unsubscribe. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Media Genesis offers customers a full service, which includes analysis </p><p>segmentation; data hosting; capturing of new data; client segmentation; </p><p>campaign planning, and tracking and reporting analysis. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Alternatively, clients with a smaller budget can register at Media </p><p>Genesis' website and implement the self-service ASP (application service </p><p>provider) option, which allows users to access the company's software </p><p>and back-end infrastructure to run their own email campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Each email could cost from about US$0.20 to US$2, </p><p>depending on whether it was in plain text or video. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Once potential customers receive the email, they have the option to </p><p>forward the message to three other people. While Media Genesis can track </p><p>the sent message, it lacks the right to include the new addresses to its </p><p>database without prior permission. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Dr Fung added the service was not limited to dotcom companies and would </p><p>be as effective for traditional bricks-and-mortar businesses. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to figures released by Media Genesis, 74 per cent of </p><p>Asia-Pacific Internet users have email boxes. That figure is expected to </p><p>increase to more than 90 per cent by 2004. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>