MEDIA-I: Lycos in URL dispute as campaign starts

SINGAPORE: Lycos has dropped "Asia" from its name across regional

countries, except in Hong Kong where it failed to register the

Lycos.com.hk domain.

The portal has also launched a multi-million dollar regional advertising

campaign, created by Leo Burnett, which aims to re-position the search

engine as a destination site.

The name change is an effort by Lycos to brand its Asian portals as part

of the global network, according to T. C. Chao, Lycos Asia marketing

manager in Hong Kong,

"All sites except Hong Kong will drop Asia from Lycos Asia's name. The

reason is mostly for convenience, and it makes sense to brand it as part

of the worldwide network. We don't really see the need to keep the

Asia.

"Hong Kong, though, will keep the Lycos Asia name and that is basically

because we have had trouble with the URL. Someone has already taken it.

We are working with the legal department to get it, but until that

happens, we will continue to use Lycos Asia. We don't know who has

registered it, but it's obviously a pretty clever person," said

Chao.

Lycos' failure to register the URL could mean the portal is in for a

lengthy and costly legal fight.

Martin Roll, vice-president of global marketing and PR at Speednames,

said: "Companies need to plan ahead and protect their brand name for the

future. While the figure for settlement of cybersquatting cases is

rarely released, we know it can get very expensive.

"However, as well as the money, it is the hassle and the damage this can

cause to a brand name. Top management should have been aware of this as

it is not a new issue."

The regional branding campaign brands the company under the new name and

incorporates the tagline "Look no further" into the creative, which

hinges on man's innate desire for knowledge. It features different

facets of human curiosity in everyday life.

The television commercial, running in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan,

will be supplemented by print and poster adsvertising.

The commercial shows an older woman peering through a window, with

children looking through a fence and a man gazing at his pregnant wife's

stomach.

"Because it's a regional campaign it has to be universally understood",

said Tay Guan Hin, Leo Burnett Singapore creative director.

"To communicate effectively we've used no word play and relied on simple

story-telling and emotion so people can relate to it more," he

added.

Lycos continues to depend on online advertising to generate revenue.

It is counting on the new ad campaign on boosting the number of visitors

to its sites across Asia.

As well as a search engine, the portal's other features include

information channels, covering news, finance and entertainment.