Indiantelevision.com Team

(20 September 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Portal MSN India is celebrating six years of existence in the country. On this occasion it along with ad sales partner NDTV Media is offering a value add for clients by unveiling new advertising packages it has specially created for the portal.

The new online advertising packages feature special effects. The aim is to help brands ensure that their message reaches out a larger audience online. The company says that higher quality and enhanced graphics have been complimented with innovative newer online advertising tools. This allows advertisers a host of newer ways to promote their products.

Speaking on the same MSN and Windows Live India country head Jaspreet Bindra says that this package gives ad agencies the tools they need to help make the ad a more interactive experience for the user. It also allows for different creatives to be done for one product.

Bindra says that MSN's package results in rich media of a better quality compared with what competing portals can offer. MSN has done innovations with clients. For instance it came out with an over the Page video ad innovation for Tata Racing. Basically the company wanted to take advantage of the interest in Formula One. MSN is also doing an ad innovation for eBay. Here if one clicks the ad it expands.

Talking about the relationship with MSN, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak says, "Nine months ago we approached MSN and told them that they needed to look at how they sell ads from a different angle. We decided to adopt a method that combines the way television and print are sold. We do not sell based on click throughs or page impressions.

"We sell on the basis of the period of time that an advertiser wants visibility for and daypart chosen. From 60 clients on MSN before we came onboard there are now 265 clients. We have managed to triple MSN's revenues in six months time."

MSN also came out with the unique concept of desktop TV. This is a section where video ads run daily. They have also done a deal with Indiantelevision.com for the desktop TV feature. In terms of dealing with clients selling in daypart means that once that time that one has bought the ad for elapses then the ad goes off the site. For instance a client can buy an ad for a month each day between 9am - 12 pm which MSN says is prime time. After 12 pm each time the video ad or banner goes off the site each day. The day is divided into six parts and the price for ads depends on the traffic MSN gets at that point of time on an average.

Bindra adds that MSN has configured the software so that video ads can run even on computers that do not have high bandwith. That is one of the factors that separates it from other portals. Also some video ads run after the user clicks on it while others start automatically once a certain page is opened. That is the choice of a client. MSN does not allow more than three ads on a page.

Nayak claims that the client drop of rate is only four to five per cent which means that clients find value in this way of advertising. "We have managed to get clients to change their way of thinking about how they advertise on the web. What we are doing marks a paradigm shift in terms of how the internet is being sold to clients."

Another innovative way for clients to reach MSN users is through the Live Messenger. Here a Bot backend programme is created so that for instance one can chat with Munnabhai. There was a similar initiative done for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (Kank). Bindra says that the messenger icon can be made to look like a star. The same concept can be applied to clients like Coca Cola. Plans are in the pipeline to enable the user who clicks on a banner to interact with Live Messenger from the client.

Of course for films like Kank, Rang De Basanti MSN has aimed to give users a complete experience. So one could get among other things downloadable screen savers, stills from the movie, a plot synopsis based on the story-line, details of the cast and crew etc.

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