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Microsoft Adds Voluntary Advertising to Msn's Instant Messaging
Posted by: Anonymous on Apr 10, 2005 - 10:05 AM
Microsoft
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Microsoft Corp. is betting that many computer users will want brand images around their instant messages in the same way that many people want product logos on their shirts. And the company's MSN division sees the situation as a new opportunity to boost its advertising revenue. The latest version of MSN Messenger, released last night, will introduce the concept of "branded experience advertising" to the widely used instant-messaging software. Advertisers will be able to offer specialized backgrounds, icons, animated pictures and other features that incorporate their advertising themes.
For example, to express "extreme amusement," someone could transmit an audio clip in which Sprite's "Miles Thirst" advertising character exclaims: "Oh, I'm laughin'! I'm on the ground! Oh, I got Sprite comin' out my nose! Ah ha ha ha!"
Use of the free, downloadable advertising theme packs and features will be strictly voluntary, said Blake Irving, an MSN corporate vice president. The idea is to let people choose a brand that fits their personality. "It's just a way for people to express themselves," he said. "It's advertising, but it doesn't feel that way."
At the same time, integration of advertising into MSN Messenger represents a "pretty substantial" opportunity for MSN to expand its display-ad business, Irving said.
Yesterday's release of MSN Messenger 7.0 marks the first large- scale introduction of advertising into the instant-messaging program, which is used by about 155 million people worldwide. Previously, the advertising in the program was limited to a small banner on the bottom of the main MSN Messenger window.
Microsoft isn't the first to incorporate advertising into its instant-messaging software. Yahoo! Messenger, for example, offers themed backgrounds called "IMVironments" that advertise movies, jeans, chewing gum and many other products.
Instant messaging is "one of the most personal tools on the Internet," making it both attractive and risky ground for online advertisers, said Jeff Lanctot, vice president of media and client services for interactive ad agency Avenue A/Razorfish.
"Advertisers know that integrating their brands into that very personal experience can be a very powerful strategy," Lanctot said. However, if a theme pack is too invasive, it runs the risk of "offending the consumer or turning them against your brand as opposed to building up some sort of familiarity or loyalty," he said.
But MSN's theme pack approach seems to strike a good balance between the user experience and the advertising message, he said. Avenue A/Razorfish has worked on Yahoo! IMVironment projects for clients including Dentyne gum, and the agency was among those providing feedback to Microsoft during development of its theme- pack strategy.
MSN is seeing initial interest in the concept from some high- profile advertisers: In addition to Sprite's "Miles Thirst" campaign, shoe company Adidas will offer an MSN Messenger theme pack as part of its campaign for the "adidas_1" shoe.
In another area, one analyst said MSN might be going too far with advertising. The MSN Spaces weblog publishing service, also released in final form last night, will let Microsoft put three or four text- based advertisements at the top of the personal Spaces sites created by users.
"There's a question of whether you want advertising on your personal blog site or not," Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox said. "I think that some people would answer no."
Microsoft said 4.5 million people have created sites using the Spaces service, introduced in preliminary form last year. While it isn't clear how many of those sites represent active users, as opposed to people just trying the service once, 170,000 Spaces are update every day, Irving said.
The MSN division has experienced rapid growth in advertising revenue during the past three years, helping it become consistently profitable. However, much of that growth has come from another form of advertising, the placement of text-based ads alongside search results.
Another new MSN Messenger feature, MSN Video Conversation, also will create a new advertising venue. The company says the feature allows for real-time conversations with full-screen, synchronized video and audio. Advertisers will be able to display on-screen, seven-second ads as the connection is being established. Previously, the program included a more basic webcam feature that required a separate audio link.
The new version of the instant-messaging program also links to other MSN programs in new ways. For example, users can display to others the music they're listening to at that moment on their computers. The feature works not only with Microsoft's Windows Media Player, but also with Apple Computer's rival iTunes music player for Windows-based PCs.
Irving said that accommodation was a recognition that a large number of people use the iTunes software. However, it only goes so far: As the songs are displayed, someone can click on the title to buy it for him- or herself - but the program links to the MSN Music service for the purchase, not to the iTunes Music store.
P-I reporter Todd Bishop can be reached at 206-448-8221 or toddbishop@seattlepi.com
(C) 2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
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Re: Microsoft Adds Voluntary Advertising to Msn's Instant Messaging
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by bumaza391abc2609 on May 17, 2008 - 03:45 AM
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