MEDIA-I: Microsoft campaign to win over agencies

HONG KONG: Microsoft is repositioning its MSN portal as an integrated marketing solutions provider and will launch a major advertising campaign targeting advertisers and ad agencies in Asia in mid-October. The move is part of the company's global US$100 million initiative to build up an advertising revenue stream for its portal. MSN has allocated US$30 million for Europe, Africa and the Middle East markets. However, a budget has not been confirmed for Asia, according to MSN director of marketing and PR, Rose Leng. Leng said the company would launch its Asia Advantage marketing campaign in Hong Kong on October 18. "We haven't quite set a budget for Asia, but there will be a series of trade marketing campaigns targeting both agencies and advertisers. We are trying to position ourselves as an integrated marketing solutions provider, not just offer banner ads." MSN has invested US$250 million over the past year-and-a-half to promote and build its portal internationally. A report by NetValue ranked MSN third in terms of audience reach in Hong Kong in August. In that same month, it placed second in Singapore, 10th in Taiwan and 11th in Korea. Microsoft's new positioning comes in the wake of a slumping global economy and a downturn in online advertising. But industry analysts were optimistic on the change, saying the new positioning would underline the portal's commitment to online media. The new positioning is also likely to put MSN in direct competition with online agencies such as DoubleClick. The portal has added a new ad-targeting product, along the lines of DoubleClick's Dart, and has expanded its advertising formats to include full-page ads, which appear for a few seconds while a web page is being downloaded. ACNielsen eRatings.com managing director, North Asia, Hugh Bloch, said: "It seems as though MSN may be setting itself up to compete more directly with the ad networks such as Mezzo, DoubleClick, Real Media and the like. Obviously, Microsoft's big benefit is its ownership and control of one of the leading global and regional websites and its branding clout. A disadvantage would be its ability to cross the web, to reach those consumers who don't use Microsoft; perhaps they have this covered in some way." MSN is also offering a "scratch-off ad" format, which works like a lottery ticket - the message is revealed when the user moves a cursor along the banner ad. As part of an ad agency relationship building initative, Advertising Advantage, MSN will offer advertisers tools for research and tracking ads, and the ability to update ads in real time. The portal is also launching an Agency Alliance Programme, offering agencies incentives when clients run schedules on MSN. The idea behind the programme is to help the portal build relationships with agencies and advertisers in order to drive recurring revenue as the online ad slump worsens.

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