MEDIA-I: MSN drops $10m to woo agencies and advertisers

<p>HONG KONG: MSN has kicked off its US$10 million initiative </p><p>to launch its Advantage Marketing programme in Asia, which includes </p><p>schemes to build ties with both advertising agencies and marketers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The MSN Agency Alliance Programme aimed to provide brand and online </p><p>advertising agencies with the training to use MSN marketing solutions </p><p>for clients. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MSN director of marketing and PR, Rose Leng, said Advantage Marketing </p><p>would leverage on the MSN and Microsoft brands, as well as Windows XP, </p><p>Microsoft's new operating system. "We are offering a total package which </p><p>goes beyond online to leverage other Microsoft properties, including XP, </p><p>to ride on the MSN name." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite the new initiatives, Leng insisted the portal was not in direct </p><p>competition with online agencies such as DoubleClick. "We are not in </p><p>competition at all with DoubleClick and the likes. The MSN offerings are </p><p>complementary to the systems that DoubleClick has. In some cases, </p><p>advertisers may choose to use both systems." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MSN has also launched Advantage, a regional, quarterly publication </p><p>produced by Motiv8 Publishing to support the campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>