INTERNET MEDIA: MTV Asia Online in move to expand regional site reach

<p>MTV Asia Online is expanding its regional site reach, opening the </p><p>doors to a new site, MTV Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In addition to MTVAsia Online (www.mtvasia.com) and MTV Chinese </p><p>(www.mtvchinese.com), the site will feature greater streaming video </p><p>content, tapping into Korea's superior broadband network. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In markets like Taiwan or Korea, the sites are much more media-heavy, </p><p>with better Internet infrastructure, so users have greater bandwidth," </p><p>said Asiacontent.com VP, business development, Paul Meyers-who was </p><p>responsible for the site's strategy and development. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"You'll see a lot more media, music, and video clips. Korea's definitely </p><p>a more mature Internet market." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV Asia Online has also been revamped, sporting a new look, faster </p><p>access and easier navigation. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Garnering 170,000 unique visitors for December alone, including more </p><p>than three million pageviews for the two sites, the site is taking the </p><p>concept of Web community very seriously indeed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A recent online survey voiced requests for greater interactive action, </p><p>coupled with more user-generated content and video clips. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The thing we need to keep in mind here is that all that cool, sexy, </p><p>eye-candy stuff is great, but if it takes three minutes to access the </p><p>page, those visitors are not going to come back," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV Asia Online is also tentatively "doing ecommerce", sparked by a </p><p>joint foray with 'Net Megastore, a regional online CD provider. </p><p>Brandishing the channel's youth tag to advertisers, sponsorship has shot </p><p>up - and following the October '99 launch of MTV Chinese, advertisers </p><p>have included Acer, Star East, Adidas and Estee Lauder. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Running a "beyond banner" December package for youth cosmetic house Za, </p><p>new 'Cool Stuff' make-up lines were introduced on MTV Chinese and a </p><p>surfer feedback contest on the "coolest colours for the Xmas party </p><p>season" was run. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Meyers contests present opportunities to answer </p><p>questions, sign up for newsletters and learn more about the </p><p>products. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Outlining the need for Internet advertising to become more visually </p><p>arresting, he believes the onus lies with the advertisers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"This is just the beginning - as advertisers become more comfortable and </p><p>sophisticated with the Internet, they'll recognise its strengths, </p><p>interactivity, measurability and brand association". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"And for us publishers; trying to define the 'real goals' of client </p><p>adspend online includes setting realistic expectations for them," he </p><p>said. Today's savvy advertisers were also experimenting with varied </p><p>banner styles. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Maybe 'banner A' will work on one site and 'banner B' will work better </p><p>on another - it's all down to audience preference". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As in traditional advertising, Mr Meyers believes campaigns need to be </p><p>measured, "success on a micro-level is very hard to evaluate. You want </p><p>to look at where you're advertising and what kind of results you're </p><p>looking for ... is it branding, getting people to sign up for things or </p><p>driving them to your site so you can sell online?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A sticky banner is not solely defined by high click-through rates: "All </p><p>too often we see an online banner campaign just 'being an online banner </p><p>campaign' - maybe that isn't the best approach," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If it's part of a larger campaign philosophy with a number of goals for </p><p>different media then it can be measured more accurately." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>