INTERNET MEDIA: BuzzCity determined to snare lion's share of online adspend

<p>Some 750,000 subscribers have signed up and with the majority </p><p>coming from China, BuzzCity has become the biggest online community in </p><p>that country. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the rapidly expanding online advertising market in Asia, a market </p><p>projected to reach US$1.5 billion in 2003, BuzzCity, has set its </p><p>sights on being a coveted gateway to ecommerce in the Asia-Pacific </p><p>region. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With a service that provides email updates from users' selected </p><p>websites, BuzzCity's user base now numbers some 750,000 subscribers, </p><p>with a majority of members from China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This makes BuzzCity one of the largest online communities in the </p><p>country," said BuzzCity CEO Dr Lai Kok Fung. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The year-old Internet start-up company from Singapore also holds the </p><p>unique distinction of having sold all its Web ad space purely on its </p><p>ability to provide clients with a business model that targets individual </p><p>users. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Just over US$100,000 has so far been churned up on the </p><p>advertising front since its initial marketing efforts began last </p><p>July. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Collecting revenue through newsletter sponsorship and 'run-of-site' </p><p>advertising, BuzzCity VP of sales and marketing Hisham Isa was confident </p><p>that its US$1 million sales target (beyond 2000) was </p><p>achievable. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Founded by Dr Lai, Lee Cjin Pheow, Clifford Chew and Andrew Lim, the </p><p>team began working on technologies involving vertical Web portals and </p><p>information tracking. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Their efforts witnessed the formation of BuzzCity early last year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Within three months, the company received some US$1.8 million in </p><p>venture funding from OCBC Wearnes & Walden Management and Singapore </p><p>Press Holdings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Committed to being the "Internet's postman of choice", just over a third </p><p>of the fund has been used to expedite BuzzCity's growth through dynamic </p><p>marketing initiatives and towards building stronger partnerships with </p><p>companies in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Our proprietary technology gives us an edge and an altogether different </p><p>perspective (as compared to other Internet start-up companies)," said Mr </p><p>Hisham. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The tool of the time has come and we are working with various channel </p><p>network partners that will give our advertisers a larger reach. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"By working with website advertising networks like SpaceAsia and </p><p>FlyCast, we have representation in different countries and different </p><p>industries." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Some 750,000 subscribers have signed up and with the majority coming </p><p>from China, BuzzCity has become the largest online community in that </p><p>country. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With its first round of data-mining results from Singapore and China </p><p>just in, the benefits to advertisers as to how effective their Web </p><p>advertising spend has been, will be dispatched to them in an independent </p><p>audited report. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Hisham, an experienced marketer previously with Alam Teknokrat, </p><p>Malaysia, where he helped conceptualise AltaVista AsiaWide service and </p><p>Skali, hopes to capture the lion's share of the rapidly expanding online </p><p>ad market through marketing and brand-building campaigns. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We spent approximately quarter of a million US dollars in '99 on </p><p>advertising and PR work," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This year, our budget is up to US$1 million and will cover more </p><p>print ads, radio and TVCs." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>To make the site a portal of choice, the company intends to expand its </p><p>scope considerably. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"On our part, we also intend to do more affiliate marketing programmes </p><p>with more brand partners like Asia1 and CNet Asia," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Also in the pipeline are new products for wireless application products </p><p>field like PDAs (palm-tops), mobile phones and pagers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Although Web-savvy advertising agencies are still in an infant stage, </p><p>Hisham says there has been tremendous growth in the area especially over </p><p>the last year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Website advertising networks are already collating audience data to </p><p>help them sell." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>