Sponsored Spaces Goes Live in Asia

Hong Kong, 20 JUNE 2007 — Leveraging the boom in online social networking in Asia and the growing popularity of Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft today announced the introduction of Sponsored Spaces across the region.  Sponsored Spaces is a new ad platform that allows advertisers to immerse themselves in the social networking scene and communicate and engage directly with consumers.  The broad introduction of the new ad platform follows in-depth consultation by Microsoft with marketers and advertisers to create a solution that converges with social networking elements.  Windows Live Spaces is tightly integrated with Windows Live Messenger, making it much more effective for advertisers to promote their campaigns.

 

Sony Ericsson, one of the first companies to get a taste of this highly effective community-based advertising platform back in April, with its “Share the Real Me” (http://sharetherealme.spaces.live.com) site, launched “Share the Real Life” (http://sharethereallife.spaces.live.com) on June 4^th as a core element of an integrated marketing campaign to launch its new K810i handset.  The “Share the Real Life” site sits at the center of all online and offline campaign activities acting as a virtual “campaign central” where advertisers can keep information and content fresh so that consumers can get regular updates.  During its first day on the Windows Live Spaces network, which attracts more than 115 million unique users each month, “Share the Real Life” generated more than 10,000 page views. 

 

“The blogosphere is exploding in popularity in Asia and advertisers are eager to reach out to this group of opinion leaders and influencersing customers”   commented Karen Chia, Head of Multinational Sales, Asia, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions.  “With the introduction of Sponsored Spaces, advertisers will now be able to quickly set up a social networking platform, maximize interaction with their customers, and tap into the large community of people on the Windows Live network.”

 

Sony Ericsson’s “Share the Real Me” Sponsored Space, which ran in March this year, attracted close to 52,000 visits over a month and more than 191 comments.  Put into perspective, over 40% of blogs in Asia receives fewer than ten visitors each week[1] on average.  The large number of comments and visits to the site demonstrates a high level of user engagement and participation. 

 

“Share the Real Life”, authored by Hong Kong celebrity Jan Lamb, encourages visitors to express themselves and share their real-life stories with others.  Visitors to the new site are also invited to submit their blog in a competition.  The winners, as judged by their online peers, receive a new Sony Ericsson K810i handset. 

 

“We are extremely excited to launch this second Sponsored Spaces for Sony Ericsson, a core component of their K810i handset campaign.  As one of the leading brands in mobile communications, this is a great way for Sony Ericsson to reach out and get closer to their target market and drive an even higher level of customer engagement. ,” continued Ms. Chia.  “We have already seen some great successes for brands in the region that have chosen to leverage the power of social networking with Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions and we look forward to working with advertisers to build campaigns around this new solution as it continues to gain momentum in Asia.”

 

Designed with the ‘easy-to-buy, easy-to-sell’ approach that Microsoft brings to its advertising solutions, Sponsored Spaces is also tightly integrated with Windows Live Messenger, making it much more effective for advertisers to promote their campaigns.  Advertisers can also allow Spaces users to add the Sponsored Site to their friends list, extending the impact of a campaign. With Sponsored Spaces, advertisers can use popular Windows Live Spaces features, such as Photo Albums, Gadgets, Video Players, and Update Alerts, to bring a high degree of customization and creativity to their site while matching it with campaign themes.  Setting up an advertising campaign has never been easier or more effortless.

 

Today, Windows Live Spaces received over 2.5 billion page views every month and, since the service debuted, more than 93 million Spaces sites had been created.  According to the Synovate AsiaBus Survey from June 2006, Windows Live Spaces visitors in Asia are a highly desirable audience of opinion leaders and influencers.  Spaces visitors are highly engaged in the online community and frequently offer advice and contribute to open forums. Close to 6 out of every 10 Spaces visitors turn to blogs, forums, and Internet communities for information when making purchase decisions. 

 

-Ends-

 

 

Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is a robust set of global advertising products and services designed to effectively connect advertisers with their target audiences across multiple digital touch points.  Advertisers can actively engage with their consumers through a suite of high-impact advertising products and platforms, reaching a global audience of more than 465 million unique users per month across the MSN network, as well as millions more through Windows Live, Xbox, Microsoft Office and Live Search.  Advertisers can feel confident they will achieve measurable results through groundbreaking research, advertising innovation, strategic planning and excellence in execution.  More information about Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is available at http://advertising.microsoft.com/asia.

 

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

 

Microsoft, Windows Live and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

 

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

 

Matt Collette

Edelman

Email: matt.collette@edelman.com

Tel: + 852 2837-4743

Mobile: +852 9194-6258

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