MEDIA-I: AdSociety overhauls model as slump hits

<p>HONG KONG: Pacific Century CyberWorks' online advertising company, </p><p>AdSociety, has restructured its business model to offer offline </p><p>advertising services and is looking to partner with Hong Kong tycoon Li </p><p>Ka Shing's Tom.com in mainland China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Patrick Jonathan Wong, AdSociety's chief executive officer, said the </p><p>restructuring was prompted by the downturn in online advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He pointed to local portals Tom.com and hongkong. com's moves to </p><p>integrate their media offering with the purchase of other types of </p><p>media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In January, we realised that depending on the internet alone was not </p><p>viable. We knew we had to merge the online and offline services, along </p><p>the lines of what Tom.com is doing aggressively in China. We realised </p><p>that they were going the right way," Wong said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Then there's hongkong. com, which also bought into traditional print. </p><p>To generate revenue, the way forward is integrated media, bringing </p><p>together online with print, television, event management, outdoor and </p><p>radio. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Companies that offer just advertising are in trouble today. They can </p><p>either increase efficiency or cut costs. We want to offer advertisers a </p><p>link." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>AdSociety's joint-venture in China, AdSociety Daye, was recently granted </p><p>full advertising agency licence in China, allowing it to offer services </p><p>from creative development to syndication of content and brokerage of ad </p><p>space. It will also offer online and wireless advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Tom.com also restructured its business earlier this year. Since then it </p><p>has ventured far from its original internet model into areas such as </p><p>sports promotions, print magazines and outdoor media. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We really don't see Tom.com as a competitor because Tom.com is a media </p><p>owner and is basically selling billboards in China. However, as a media </p><p>rep, we could work together with Tom.com." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Wong said the company has been in contact with Tom.com chief executive </p><p>officer Sing Wan to find a way of working together. He added: "There are </p><p>no integrated media brokers in China. AdSociety can offer a range of </p><p>media, and we think others are likely to follow this." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He said AdSociety had spent US$10 million since its launch 13 </p><p>months ago. "We've been able to get through in Asia with joint-ventures. </p><p>If the market continues as expected, we will break even by the end of </p><p>next year, earlier if the market picks up. We're not controlled by a </p><p>parent company and we can change quickly to the market because we are </p><p>not listed and don't need to answer to shareholders." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, the planned change will not extend to the company's image or </p><p>name. "The name AdSociety was created because I was thinking of creating </p><p>a club or society to pull together advertising people, from media owners </p><p>to reps," Wong said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- See analyis, p16. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>