MSN India, NDTV Media tie up to ‘revolutionise’ Net advertising

MSN India and NDTV Media have decided to enter into a strategic partnership. Under the agreement, NDTV Media, which has access to around 800 advertisers, will bring in a plethora of advertisers to MSN India. For the record, NDTV Media has been a content partner with MSN India for a while now.

According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), India’s Internet user base has grown by 54 per cent, from 2.5 crore in 2004-05 to 3.85 crore in November 2005. “In fact, this figure is increasing by 10 lakhs every month, which is larger than the increase in readership of some leading dailies,” claims Raj Nayak, CEO, NDTV Media.

Nayak reveals some interesting facts about Internet advertising. He says, “In India, while around 3,000 advertisers advertise on television and 30,000 in print, only 80 advertisers look at the Internet. And this holds true despite the fact that the Internet is the only medium that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. It is just a perception issue that the Internet is a niche medium. Through our endeavour, we plan to make it one of the finest mass media.”

Rajnish R, head, sales and marketing, MSN India, adds, “We have introduced a new, cost-effective rate card for advertisers, which will ensure that they get value for money. Partnering exclusively with NDTV Media is the perfect way to celebrate the completion of five years of MSN in India this year.”

Nayak of NDTV Media adds, “We will be offering solutions to advertisers that are not based only on the number of clicks their ad receives; we will also offer them time-band based and position based advertising space. On MSN India, we don’t allow more than three ads per page; the advertiser will have the option of booking all three spaces in one go.”

Rajnish of MSN India says that the aim of the tie-up is to make the buying process in online advertising extremely simple and solution based. “For the first time ever, we have introduced the concept of ‘Desk Top Television’. Through this, advertisers have the unique opportunity of actually placing the television commercial on our website. The user can click on it and watch the ad just the way it is on television. This is particularly useful for reaching out to professionals with Internet in their offices, who are not able to access television during the day,” he says.

Rajnish adds that five clients have already signed on for this facility, but he refused to divulge their names.

But doesn’t the Internet still have a long way to go, considering the fact that India still largely resides in its rural areas?

Nayak clarifies, “Look at what ITC has done with its e-choupal. There are no geographical barriers on the Internet, and here lies the opportunity. We intend to give our advertisers the chance to reach a young, vibrant and affluent audience base that has higher spending power than audiences present on the other media.”

Rajnish claims that MSN is the world’s second most valuable brand in the world, after Coca-Cola. That should give potential advertisers something to think about.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!