HONG KONG: Yahoo is offering free massages at shopping centres in
its first-ever joint campaign with Visa Hong Kong to encourage locals to
shop online.
The portal has set up Stress-free Kiosks at shopping centres, offering a
20-minute massage to customers who shop and pay with Visa.
Alfred Tsoi, Yahoo general manager, Hong Kong, said: "The idea behind
the massages is to show that shopping on Yahoo is stress-free. In cities
like Hong Kong where everything is so convenient you need to give users
a reason to shop online.
"The appeal of shopping on Yahoo is that it's relaxing. We believe
ecommerce is still in its relatively early stage here; hopefully the
massage idea will give people an opportunity to consider it."
The campaign coincides with the first anniversary of the launch of the
Yahoo Shopping section and follows the signing of a global agreement
between the portal and Visa International.
Under the agreement, Visa serves as the default payment option within
international versions of Yahoo Shopping, Yahoo Travel and Yahoo
Wallet.
The pact also extends to offline marketing initiatives, including
television advertising, regional print advertising and select statement
insert programmes, outdoor posters and airport signage on a
region-by-region basis.
In a separate development, Yahoo has linked up with film studio Mythical
Films to launch a regional hunt for a young talent to star in The
Touch.
Yahoo will encourage young internet users in China, Hong Kong and
Singapore to apply for the role of James Bond actress Michelle Yeoh as a
14-year-old in the film, which is scheduled for release next year.
A promotional website, touch.yahoo.com.hk, has been created for the
talent search.
According to Tsoi, Yahoo has not ruled out further involvement with
Mythical Films after the talent search.
