Microsoft has embarked on a massive US$150 million global
campaign to promote its MSN portal and the new version of its MSN
Explorer browser with the help of McCann-Erickson.
The portal has also rolled out several interactive, cost-effective
banner ad technologies called "enRiched" to attract advertisers.
The interactivity means advertisers can use templates to create ads with
scrolling features to showcase products or catalogues within a banner
ad.
Another technology enlarges the ad when a user scrolls over it to reveal
a large graphic. Other templates let advertisers "scratch out"
promotions or let users fill in forms without leaving the page.
The campaign and new offerings are geared to positioning the network as
the "world's No.1 global Internet brand".
This is the company's largest campaign since it launched Windows 95, and
not coincidentally, has kicked off at the same time as competitor AOL's
revamp of its services.
Ms Rose Leng, regional marketing director - MSN Asia, said: "We've been
doing consumer research and have found that most people have been on the
Web for one to two years. But what they feel is that their experience on
the Web is too frustrating and not totally fulfilling, but with MSN we
believe it is integrated and can be used as a home base ... so the time
is right to tell users about the advantages of using this portal."
Microsoft has worked continuously on reinventing its services, taking
the focus away from MSN as a closed subscriber network to a portal with
various service offerings.
The new campaign is to focus both online and offline with the aim to
promote enhancements made to the service rather than compete with AOL's
paid subscriber numbers, which total an estimated 25 million, compared
to the software giant's 3.5 million.
However, part of the initiative seems to concentrate on winning over
dissatisfied AOL customers. The software giant is to make it "easier"
for customers to switch to its service by offering relevant
information.
The new service, which includes a colourful Internet browser, is to make
MSN's finance, shopping and search features simpler - a square aim at
AOL's "ease of use" publicity drive.
Ms Leng said the worldwide campaign will be handled entirely by
McCann-Erickson, however regional offices of the agency are to localise
advertisements for individual markets.
She added: "We know we need to have locally-relevant advertising. So we
will adapt everything to suit the audience in Asia. The campaign will be
adjusted for the Japan, Korea, Chinese and pan-Asian markets as
different cultures have different preferences. But with one agency we
can still maintain consistency.
"We are going to target the masses here. So you can expect to see TV,
print, billboards, as well as online promotions."
The campaign has been launched in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea,
Taiwan, Malaysia and India.
The first TV spot aired featured the MSN logo, a butterfly presented in
colours similar to the Microsoft Windows operating systems logo.
Meanwhile, the company is hoping its enRiched technologies will entice
advertisers through low cost.
The new service will allow advertisers to plug their creative features
into ads on the portal for no additional cost. An outsourced version
will also be available.
Further, MSN is to launch a mass-scale promotional campaign to support
Madonna's first live gig on the Internet.
According to MSN, the promotion is to be the "largest ever net promotion
for any artist", targetting 75 million users of MSN Hotmail in 17
languages and homepage replacements on more than 30 sites worldwide.
Entertainment production company Done and Dusted is to produce the
webcast, which will take place on November 28.
