HONG KONG: Online advertising network 24/7 Media Asia will rebrand
and change its name in an effort to distance the company from the online
advertising slump and expand its offerings to agencies and
advertisers.
The company, which has been hit hard by the withering online ad sector
and the dotcom decline, is preparing to launch its new brand identity in
the coming weeks, according to 24/7 Media Asia chief operating officer
Stuart Spiteri.
While Spiteri declined to reveal the new name, sources said the company
is considering several names, including Mezzo Marketing.
"If you look at 24/7, it was 100 per cent owned by Chinadotcom about
two-and-a-half years ago when we started. In 2000, we moved towards 80
per cent ownership by Chinadotcom. Since then there have been some
changes along the way," Spiteri said.
One change has been the introduction of its expresso email-marketing
suite, which was launched in June, in an effort to accelerate the
business' move into the online direct marketing space.
"Actually we've been doing this quietly for some time. Late last year,
we acquired an offline database for agencies and advertisers. We'll be
rolling out a suite of services with expresso," said Spiteri.
He explained that the company would continue offering its present
services, but would re-position itself as a solutions provider, offering
email and database marketing tools, as well as application
technology.
"We will continue with the business we have been doing, but embark on
initiatives and execute different strategies, such as developing email
marketing and data mining, technology serving campaigns and data with
our own technology."
In recent weeks the 24/7 overseas operation slashed its work force, sold
off assets and closed its European division to cut costs and narrow its
focus.
In the US, the company faces delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market.
"As you know the announcement coming out of New York's 24/7 Media office
is that they want to focus on domestic operations. We believe and can
see that the market opportunities are still here in Asia-Pacific and
remain untapped. We found, along the way, that what fit in the US
organisation didn't necessarily fit here. They were rolling out their
business models and technologies and it was evident that this was
restrictive for the Asia operation.
"We are majority owned by Chinadotcom and so we feel we have a lot more
opportunities than the current name would let us reflect. We wanted to
illustrate our broader strategy of what we want to do."
