Viveat Susan Pinto
Marketing

MSN targets cybercafés for marketing & promotions

MSN is not the first marketer to take the cybercafé route; Sify and Reliance Infocomm have their network of iWays and WebWorlds across the country

Consider this: According to the NRS 2005, the number of people, 12 years and above, using Internet in cybercafes is 34.72 lakhs as against 36.75 lakh individuals, who access the Internet from home. This represents 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively of the base population of 80 crores (aged 12 years and above) used by the current NRS.

There’s no doubt that the Internet usage from home is higher than that in cybercafes. But the total universe of out-of-home users – as is obvious from statistics discussed earlier –isn’t that small a segment to be ignored by online players.

If anything, it is of a decent size, and dotcom companies are waking up to the need of tapping this mobile population.

MSN India, for one, has identified 300 cybercafes in Mumbai, 115 in Pune and 250 in Bangalore for marketing and promotion-related activities. These outlets, which have been carefully selected, are being used to display promotional material apart from encouraging users to subscribe to the company’s services.

“If users sign up for our Messenger service, they get a free CD containing the latest dance numbers, put together by Virgin Music,” says Rajnish R, head of sales, marketing and strategic business initiatives, MSN India.

Plans are to target cybercafes in Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad with such other schemes and offers in the coming months. “The idea,” says Rajnish, “is to reinforce the MSN brand in the minds of users. We are a consumer brand and we need to be aggressive across touch points,” he says.

Traditionally, the company has depended on TV advertising, online promotions and events for its communication needs, and as such the cybercafé initiative is the first outside its regular media and marketing plan.

The company, though, is not the first e-marketer in the country to take the cybercafé route for marketing-related activities. Rivals such as Yahoo! have used cybercafé promotions in the past, especially during its launch in the year 2000. Broadband players such as Sify and Reliance Infocomm also have their network of iWays and Webworlds across the country, which are effective in terms of connecting with consumers on the ground. © 2005 agencyfaqs!

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