According to Peter Steyn, Hong Kong.....

A collection of some of my writings, and that of others about me...which you may or not find of any interest.

2012-12-24T09:21:00.006+08:00

Here you will find some of my mass media coverage (some are articles I submitted while others were written by journalists), as well as some of my most recent papers published in "peer-reviewed" academic journals which, as you may know, is a long and difficult process until publication. Getting published in an academic journal could take 9 months to 2 (or even 3 or 4) years, and often takes several rounds of edits and reviews (or even rejects). Due to copyright laws, I can't post full journal articles here, so I posted just the first page. Let me know if you want the full paper.

About Me:
I'm a marketing research practitioner based in Hong Kong but I work on worldwide projects. I recently completed my PhD (Marketing) and in the process I published a few new papers in academic journals. Born and raised in South Africa, I lived in Canada before moving to Hong Kong in 1996. I'm particularly interested in advancing research design & analytics in the areas of brand and advertising research, customer satisfaction, loyalty measurement, service recovery, customer advocacy, and digital media & marketing measurement. Also love teaching at post-graduate level or tutoring of researchers and practicing execs. Been to 100 countries (published 8 photography books) and still counting which continues to enrich my understanding of international marketing and consumer behaviour.

Journal of Financial Services Marketing (10 pages)

2011-11-29T14:21:00.007+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

International Journal of Advertising (29 pages)

2011-03-18T11:01:00.001+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Journal of Services Marketing (10 pages)

2011-02-07T19:11:00.001+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Journal of Brand Management (10 pages)

2010-12-18T10:50:00.001+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal (13 pages)

2010-12-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Ambush marketing research wins best paper prize

2010-10-11T13:27:00.001+08:00

Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, CANADA
October 5, 2010

Research from SFU Business professors Leyland Pitt and Michael Parent on the implications of ambush marketing at global-scale sporting events has garnered a notable award from the journal Business Horizons (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, USA). Entitled "Event Sponsorship and Ambush Marketing: Lessons from the Beijing Olympics," the research has won the Business Horizons/Elsevier Publishing Prize for the journal’s "Best Article" published in 2010.

The article was co-written with Pierre Berthon of Bentley University in Boston, and Peter Steyn of Sweden’s Luleå University of Technology.

Their research shows that the persistent effectiveness of ambush marketers leaves sporting event sponsors particularly vulnerable – costing them not only their financial investment, but ultimately their customers.

The study’s authors examined data from the 2008 "Li Ning affair", which saw Olympic sponsor Adidas ambushed by lesser-known Chinese sportswear company Li Ning at the Beijing Summer Olympics. The Chinese company's namesake founder, Li Ning, was China’s most decorated Olympian and it was he who lit the Olympic flame at the 2008 opening ceremony.

Data collected after the closing of the Beijing Games isolated what the researchers called the "Li Ning effect" – which describes being incorrectly identified as an official sponsor, and the positive effects accrued to a company's brand as a result. In the footwear category at least, Li Ning was the clear brand winner of the 2008 Olympics, in spite of the millions spent by Adidas to secure a sponsorship.

"Amidst the background noise of multiple sponsorships," said the study’s authors, "this highly poignant event stuck in people’s memory such that when they were asked to recall who the official sponsor of athletic footwear was for the Beijing Games, more of our respondents thought it was Li Ning than Adidas."

The researchers offer important advice for marketers trying to see through successful sponsorship investments in events such as the Olympics and FIFA World Cup. "Don’t naively put yourself in a position to be ambushed; remember, large sporting events provide optimal venues and occasions for this to happen," they suggest. "This does not mean that firms should abstain from sponsorship; large global events can provide superlative opportunities for marketing communication. “However, walking into sponsorships and blithely ignoring the lessons from the Li Ning affair would be asking for trouble. If you do decide to sponsor a major event, anticipate and behave as though an ambush will happen."

Best Article Award

2010-10-06T10:53:00.005+08:00

Media coverage of this award winning paper can be found HERE

Journal of Financial Services Marketing - June 2010 (13 pages)

2010-05-23T21:09:00.006+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services (19 pages)

2010-05-06T23:07:00.011+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications (11 pages)

2010-03-14T18:49:00.013+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Business Horizons (10 pages)

2010-01-27T13:42:00.007+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Public Relations Review

2010-01-07T13:41:00.003+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Journal of Sponsorship

2009-09-14T19:52:00.008+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

Media Magazine Asia

2009-04-29T23:03:00.002+08:00

Content Asia

2009-04-27T18:13:00.002+08:00

Sponsorship measurement needs to go deeper

2009-04-15T13:26:00.003+08:00

15 April 2009 4:28pm

The importance of digital media in marketing and promoting brands means sponsors need far deeper measures of effectiveness than the traditional metrics such as brand awareness and recognition, according to specialist research company Aha! Research.

Aha! Research Managing Director, Peter Steyn, told Sponsorship News that consumer generated media, such as blogs, YouTube, and Twitter were now having such an impact they could make or break a brand in a matter of months.

He says that Aha!’s research following the last Olympics showed that while traditional metrics couldn’t be ignored, there was a need to measure consumers’ online engagement with the brands.

Steyn said a range of research showed that positive online brand recommendation correlated with a company’s growth, so monitoring consumer media engagement was crucial.

The research showed that sponsorship has an influence on whether a brand will be recommended through online consumer generated media. It also showed that marketers have to get on the front foot to ensure their position as official sponsor is recognised, as this has an impact in social media.

"The distinction between an official sponsor and a non-sponsor is becoming much more important and measuring the likelihood that consumers will promote, or demote, your brand online, is critical," Steyn said.

Talking Customer Satisfaction with "Asian Hotel & Catering Times"

2009-04-07T12:02:00.005+08:00

In an April 2009 interview with "Asian Hotel & Catering Times", Peter Steyn of Aha! Research talked with Zara Horner about Customer Satisfaction in the Asian hospitality industry.

Event Sponsorship in the Digital Age

2009-03-31T11:59:00.001+08:00

Public Relations Quarterly, New York, Dec 08: Meet the Bloggers

2008-12-15T20:50:00.007+08:00

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED: CAN'T POST FULL ARTICLE HERE

AdAsia - Sponsoring Olympics Paid Off - Oct 2008

2008-12-10T21:56:00.005+08:00

For the full article, go HERE

Olympic sponsors’ medal tally - Television Asia PLUS

2008-11-04T10:36:00.002+08:00

Beijing Olympics Sponsors Bring Home Gold: Both Brand Attitude and Brand Recommendation Score Higher for Sponsors - Sponsorship Awareness is Crucial

2008-09-13T19:00:00.004+08:00

Hong Kong (PRWEB) September 13, 2008 -- A survey conducted by Aha! Research has found that the 2008 Beijing Olympics official sponsors have enjoyed significant benefits as a result of their involvement. Sponsor brands were shown to have experienced higher brand recommendation and brand attitudes compared with non-sponsor brands.

According to estimates, each of the top 12 sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympics spent about US$70 million to have their brand associated with this truly global event. Although watched by up to four billion people worldwide, it remains difficult for marketers to assess the impact of sponsorship on their business.

Measuring the effectiveness of sponsorship within the marketing mix has always been challenging, and as such its high costs can be difficult to justify. In this online survey conducted among 1,330 Chinese respondents randomly selected from an online consumer panel provided by GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), Aha! Research employed the crucial measures of brand recommendation and brand attitude to assess the marketing effectiveness of the brands that sponsored the event against those that did not. Awareness of sponsorship is a strong determinant on the scores of both these measurements, which also underlines the value of so-called ambush marketing.

"This research is groundbreaking in terms of understanding the effect of sponsorship, consumer awareness of it, and the importance of the two critical measures of brand recommendation and brand attitude," explains Peter Steyn, managing director of Aha! Research based in Hong Kong. "Research in most industries has found that high levels of brand recommendation and positive attitudes toward a brand are the most effective measures in determining brand loyalty and predicting future growth and profitability. This survey found that not only sponsorship itself, but more importantly, sponsorship awareness (whether accurate or not), differentiates brands on these two crucial measurements. Both measures exert a significant influence on consumer decision-making, as people often simplify buying decisions by opting for familiar brands."

Brand Recognition

The survey covered 29 official Beijing Olympic sponsors and partner brands. Ranked on recognition of brand being an official sponsor, the top five were Coca Cola, China Mobile, Lenovo, Bank of China and PICC. Those sponsors that achieved less than 20 percent recognition included Manulife, Atos Origin, Johnson & Johnson and BHP Billiton. Among the 41 non-sponsor brands mentioned in the survey, those with high levels of incorrect brand sponsorship recognition were Li Ning (67 percent), China Life Insurance Company (54 percent), Nike (50 percent) and Sina (41 percent).

Brand Recommendation

In the analysis of the survey data, 25 comparisons were made between a sponsor and a non-sponsoring competitor, for instance Air China compared to non-sponsor United Airlines, and Budweiser compared to non-sponsor Heineken. In all but 11 comparisons, the sponsor brand scored significantly higher on respondent's likelihood to recommend the brand to friends and family than the non-sponsor brands.

However, the survey data suggests that recognition of a brand being a sponsor is more crucial. All nine sponsor brands tested on brand recommendation showed a significantly higher score among respondents aware of their sponsorship than those who were not aware. This is also true for non-sponsor brands. Eleven of the 15 non-sponsor brands measured on brand recommendation also scored higher among those who incorrectly identified the non-sponsor brand as a sponsor. These findings clearly show the importance of sponsorship awareness among consumers.

Brand Attitude

The survey measured consumer attitude towards five brand sponsors - Air China, Bank of China, Tsingtao, Samsung and Adidas - against their five non-sponsor counterparts - United Airlines, ICBC, Heineken, Nokia and Nike. All sponsors, except Samsung and Adidas, scored significantly higher for brand attitude than their competitors. However, among all the sponsor brands, scores were significantly higher among respondents who correctly recognized the sponsor brand. Similarly, among the non-sponsor brands, scores were significantly higher among respondents who incorrectly identified the non-sponsor brand as a sponsor - except for Nokia.

As with the brand recommendation measure, the survey showed that where respondents correctly recognized a sponsor brand, or incorrectly identified non-sponsoring brands as sponsors, they had a more positive attitude towards the brand. Clearly for sponsoring brands, it is crucial to ensure high consumer awareness of their sponsorship to maximise their return on investment.

"Survey results suggest that the investment brands made in sponsoring the 2008 Beijing Olympics are possibly justified for most, but likely not all," concludes Steyn. "Millions of dollars were spent this year by the sponsors of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Our research indicates that most of these brands are enjoying improved recognition, attitudes towards their brand and brand recommendation. But there's a sting in the tail - it is not enough to be a sponsor - brands must take the initiative before, during, and after the event to communicate their leading role to consumers to make the most of the significant sums they have invested."

For further information, please contact:
Peter Steyn, Managing Director, Aha! Research

Olympic ambushers end up winners

2008-09-11T10:42:00.004+08:00

Olympic ambushers end up winners

We've all heard about the successful "ambush marketing" of companies like Li Ning (2331), which were able to create huge brand awareness during the Olympics despite not being official Olympic sponsors. But how many people were fooled?

Thursday, September 11, 2008
We've all heard about the successful "ambush marketing" of companies like Li Ning (2331), which were able to create huge brand awareness during the Olympics despite not being official Olympic sponsors. But how many people were fooled?

A lot more than you might think, according to Peter Steyn at Aha! Research. Aha! conducted a survey among 1,330 Chinese consumers randomly selected by an online consumer panel provided by Global Market Insite.

More than two-thirds of people surveyed thought Li Ning was an Olympic sponsor.

Companies didn't have to give jerseys to CCTV reporters in order to be winners at the Olympic marketing game.

China Life (2628) was successful, with 54 percent of Chinese consumers surveyed wrongly thinking it's an Olympic sponsor.

Fifty percent mistakenly thought Nike - which made Liu Xiang's iconic golden shoes - was a sponsor, and 41 percent said online portal Sina.com was.

Sina.com wasn't, but rival Sohu was - a fact only realized by 46 percent.

So how much did Sohu have to pay for those 5 extra percentage points?

Grow your brand with only one measurement tool

2008-09-06T10:52:00.006+08:00

Peter Steyn
Managing Director, Aha! Research
Hong Kong, September 6, 2008

Introduction

Market researchers have been measuring the impact of word-of-mouth for ages by asking consumers a simple question: “How likely is it that you would recommend [brand X or company Y] to your friends, family or colleagues?” We have always known that this is an important measure, but now in the era of Online Buzz, it may very well be the most important measurement tool you need to grow your brand.

“Buzzmeister” - the master of their domain

Ty Braswell, former V.P. New Media at Virgin Records who managed online campaigns for artists including Lenny Kravitz and Janet Jackson, says “Developing an online buzz requires capturing the attention of folks I call ‘Key Multipliers. Their social status is connected to finding something really cool and passing the buzz on to their friends. They find new stuff, bring it to their not-so-online friends, and this role as ‘buzzmeister’ keeps them popular in their peer group. They are defined by what they hunt.”

Buzzmeisters are masters of their domains, or fields of expertise. The ‘gadget guru’, the ‘travel teamster’, the ‘high-quality hunter’ and the ‘value finder’ all declare with pride and joy that “I love it – and so will you”. Online Buzz is digital word-of-mouth and it is flourishing in online social media.

Social Media

Wikipedia defines Social Media as “...the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and ‘building’ of common meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and understandings.”

Word-of-mouth is no longer limited to gossip around the water-cooler or over the fence with neighbours. At the press of a button, Online Buzz via Social Media is global and brings with it both huge opportunities and major pitfalls for public relations, brand management, advertising and research professionals.

Bloggers are blogging and consumers are… advertising managers

A recent survey (May 2008) by Hong Kong-based Aha! Research and PR Consultancy firm, Text100, conducted among corporate news and technology bloggers across eight countries in Asia Pacific, found that 84% welcome information from PR firms and corporations. These bloggers prefer email and comments on their blog over other forms of contact. They want “opinionated responses by corporations to their blog posts“. It’s all about informal buzz rather than traditional marketing communications.

Informal online buzz can extend to consumers creating ads of their favoured or despised brands. These can generate a lot of media coverage for their innovation, creativity and audacity.

A recent California Management Review article, by Berthon P. et al, explores the factors that drive consumers to generate their own advertisements and the strategies available to companies to respond. The authors contend that the consumer is starting to run the show for marketers and the consequences are significant. Consumers are empowered with Online Buzz to make or break brands.

Good and bad Online Buzz

Happy consumers who truly own, nurture and promote a brand represent “good profits”. “Bad profits” are earned from customers who continue to purchase but who generate a negative and damaging buzz.

It is assumed that loyal customers keep purchasing a brand in the long term. Marketers have traditionally focused on loyalty and been satisfied with high scores of customer retention and continued purchasing as indicators. The problem is that various exit barriers such as price and marketing incentives may induce customers to continue purchasing even though they are unhappy with the brand. On the other hand, consumers who discontinue purchasing may not be unhappy with the brand but responding to other circumstances in their lives. Clearly, regular customers may not necessarily be solid drivers of growth.

Question:
If loyalty and customer retention are not good predictors of future growth or profitability what is?

Answer:
A loyalist who is willing to put their own reputation on the line in recommending a brand to their friends, family and colleagues.

“Buzzmeisters” as “net brand promoters”

We need “promoters” who can drive positive buzz to take charge of our brands. Research by Reichheld FF, in the Harvard Business Review, shows a strong correlation between a brand’s growth rate and the percentage of its customers who are “promoters” of that brand. These “buzzmeisters” may be the most cost effective marketing managers for our brands.

Reichheld’s validated scale is a zero-to-ten semantic differential scale with “Extremely likely to recommend” at the one end and “Not at all likely to recommend” at the other end. Respondent answers are classified in the “promoters” of the brand, those who are “passively satisfied”, and those who are “detractors”. Subtracting the percentage of “detractors” from the “promoters” produces a “net promoter score”. It has been found that in most industries, this is the most important measurement and the one number you need to drive growth and profitability.

Calculating the one most important measure

Maintain a high level of reliability and reduce non-response bias by keeping your survey short and simple.

Select a statistically valid sample of your customers, and ask them the all important question: “How likely is it that you would recommend [brand x or company y] to your friends, family or colleagues?”
Subtract the percentage of “detractors” from the percentage of “promoters” to determine your “net promoter score”.
Benchmark this score against your other brands, other branches, sales representatives, customer segments or whatever other factors make sense such as your competitors’ brands.
Focus your marketing initiatives on improving your “net promoter score”.

Customer equity drives brand equity. Building brand “promoters” and converting “detractors” are key strategies for achieving sustainable brand growth. Monitoring and managing this one important number, in the era of Online Buzz, is now more important than ever.

Online research firm chooses China gateway

2008-08-23T10:54:00.008+08:00

Online research firm chooses China gateway (01/08/2008)


	Peter Steyn, co-founder of Aha! Research, says Hong Kong makes the ideal place for new business

In corporate speak, a sudden flash of clarity is referred to as an "aha! moment." Three business partners who shared such enlightenment decided to name their company after it, and in November 2007, Aha! Research was born.

Peter Steyn, Managing Director of the boutique online market research consultancy, brings to the business 20 years of industry experience in Canada, Hong Kong and his native South Africa. Having identified a niche for specialised research services, he knew Hong Kong was the place to launch. "We intend to grow Aha! Research into a regional and global company, and there is no better place to start up a new business than Hong Kong," he said.

Mr Steyn, who spent 16 years with ACNielsen, explained how a start-up can compete with an established global brand. "There are pros and cons of working with a global leader with offices in almost every country in the world. However, as I gained more experience with clients in different industries, I identified that often, client needs were not properly met by the large research firms: needs such as flexibility of research designs and executions, fast turn-around times and catering to clients in niche markets. These motivated me to set up a boutique-size research firm that has the flexibility to respond to our fast-changing markets and client needs.

Targeting new media

"I also identified a need in the Asian market for a boutique-size firm specialising in creative online research techniques to not only measure new media, but also to effectively employ new media to conduct high quality market research."

The name Aha! Research was conceived by one of the company's co-founders, Douglas Khoo. "Like all internet startups, having a name that would differentiate us from the traditional research firms was crucial," Mr Khoo said. "But just having a name that was different is not enough. It had to convey the core of what our research solutions would lead to, and this was the ‘moment of enlightenment - the aha! moment.' We also thought that most research agencies were viewed as stuffy, monolithic, and slow to adopt new methodologies and technology. We wanted to project ourselves as more creative, progressive and exciting, given the new medium - the Internet- that we would be employing to conduct research."

Aha! Research's service retains the fundamental principles of sound market research, but uses modern technology to expedite the gathering of consumer feedback and providing creative analysis. The technology platform is home-grown and can easily accommodate most languages around the world. One area of specialisation is the niche consumer panels that will be developed over time.

"Our business objective is to develop Aha! Research into the online research agency that is known for its creative, flexible and sound research solutions," Mr Steyn said. "With our strong background and experience in three areas - market research, advertising research and information technology - we aim to develop, improve and apply creative online methodologies to gain consumer insight for our clients. Aha! Research will be known as a leader in advanced online research solutions. Our growth plans include the expansion of our current, proprietary consumer panels in Hong Kong, to the rest of Asia, most importantly, China."

State-of-the-art services

The firm's services, from its proprietary online advertising effectiveness measurement methodology and loyalty modelling, to standard brand tracking or market segmentation studies, can easily be applied to a variety of industries. Some of its clients, to date, include global HR firm Aquent, Toys'R'Us, and PR firm Text 100.

Mr Steyn said Hong Kong makes the ideal base for the business for a number of reasons, including the city's low corporate and personal taxes, personal freedoms and free economy, economic and political stability, transparent government and its world-class infrastructure.

"As expansion into China is part of our growth plans, Hong Kong serves very effectively as a gateway to mainland China. There is simply no better place in Asia which would attract me to set up a new business."

Quotable Quotes - Me Quoted in Asia Inc. Mag

2007-09-20T21:30:00.000+08:00

Lure of Local Intelligence

2005-04-06T07:18:00.001+08:00

Hong Kong, Europe, British Airways. This triangle represents an innovative online marketing strategy of marketing to consumers in their local language.

According to PhoCusWright, local language websites and booking engines are expected to be key growth drivers of the Asia Pacific online travel market, a market predicted to grow more than threefold in five years, from $4.8 billion in 2002 to $16 billion (with more than 500 million internet users) in 2006.

As one of the first airlines to have adopted online advertising, British Airways (BA) relies on the online channel to create awareness of its brand and to drive sales. BA has a proven track record of launching interactive out-of-the-box campaigns. In 2000, BA was profiled in Advertising Age due to its use of online skyscraper-sized advertisements. In 2001, BA launched a $1 million online and direct response print effort to attract business-class passengers to its flights. Ads began running on such sites as CNN.com, WSJ.com, NYTimes.com, CBS Marketwatch, Economist.com and other financial sites where the airline is likely to find frequent business travelers. In 2002, BA was first to advertise on the new Yahoo! UK and Ireland home pages. In 2003, BA launched cinematic presentations on premiere online business and financial news touting the core benefits of British Airways' business class.

Recently, BA has embarked on yet another innovative project to meet its growing need to reach out to Hong Kong users in their local language. BA teamed up with one of Hong Kong’s largest Chinese news portals, Atnext.com, for an online sponsorship to position itself as "the preferred airline to Europe." With the joint efforts of M&C Saatchi and Pixel Media, GoEurope -- a travel site exclusively focusing on European destinations to the Hong Kong market -- was born. The objective is to go beyond the usual banner and button ads in order to create a content-rich travel destination guide for Hong Kong travelers in an environment that is customized for BA. As part of this new initiative, British Airways has launched a variety of ad formats on ZUJI Hong Kong, MSN Hong Kong, Atnext.com, and AtnextLady.com to drive traffic to the site.

According to Thierry Halbroth, M&C’s Director of Integrated Services, China, “We wanted to show that British Airways isn’t just about flying to London, but that is has one of the biggest networks in Europe.” The travel site features archived content for 20 European destinations, and plans to increase it to 50 shortly. Additionally, the site also includes practical information regarding weather, visas and a calendar of events for each country.

“Lonely Planet is no longer the bible for the adventurous traveler, as it is now more mass market. We needed to make this service about offering local intelligence on the ground as written by a local person,” says Halbroth.

Kevin Huang, Chief Executive Officer of Pixel Media Hong Kong and Malaysia, says, “British Airways has launched a first of its kind online initiative in Hong Kong that combines a depth of rich content packaged in a customized environment. GoEurope is a European Traveler’s indispensable guide to everything you need to know about Europe, and presents reviews of major European destinations as well as country facts and information that are useful for visitors. Great Deals and Special Offers from British Airways to major European cities are also featured on the site. New articles and features are updated on a weekly basis.”

With the Go Europe site, BA can now touch users at every touch point. For example, users can chat all about their experience and exchange ideas on AtnextLady.com’s Traveling Community Forum, which is also sponsored by BA. Additionally, BA has started eCRM campaigns by building an email database of interested users. And of course, there's a convergence of offline and online marketing efforts. According to Halbroth, “The need to integrate online with offline into one big idea became clearer once companies realized we were all living in the real world and not in a constant online, virtual fantasy.”

British Airways chose to partner with Atnext.com due to its ability to attract business class passengers. Atnext brings to the partnership options of a better online promotional avenue and the creative means for attracting more users, as Atnext is known to have one of the highest reaches in the Hong Kong internet market. Atnext.com boasts a readership base of 1.5 million unique users and is considered to be the most effective website to reach an at-work audience. According to Peter Steyn, Managing Director of Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong, “A significant proportion of Atnext.com users are accessing the site from locations outside the home. The majority of these users are likely at the office as the website is reaching out to a high concentration of at-work users with its news content.”

All marketers wishing to delve into international should learn from BA. The airline's approach towards reaching its audience by displaying its advertising message in a contextually relevant and custom-built environment proves the power of getting local market specific.

Ranking a Stream of News - University of Pisa, Italy

2004-11-04T23:55:00.000+08:00

Ranking a Stream of News - University of Pisa

2004-11-02T08:58:00.004+08:00

In the last year there has been a surge of interest about
news engines, i.e. software tools for gathering, indexing,
searching, clustering and delivering personalized news information to Web users.

According to a recent survey made by Nielsen NetRatings, news browsing and searching is one of the most important Internet activity with more than 26 millions of active U.S. users in July 2004. For instance, Yahoo! News has an audience which is roughly the half of Yahoo! Web Search, a third of Google Web Search and a bit more than AOL Web Search, according to NetRatings. This is surprising enough if we consider that, for instance, Yahoo News had an audience of about 13 millions of users in the 2002.

“The Internet complements television for news coverage as it provides a different perspective and greater depth of information - statistics, pictures, interactive maps, streaming video, and analyst comments,” said Peter Steyn of Nielsen/NetRatings. Certainly, recent events such as SARS, War in Iraq, Terrorism Alerts and other similar dramatic events contributed to diffuse the use of on line news search engines.

The huge amount of news available on line reflects the users’ need for a plurality of information and opinions. News engines are, then, a direct link to fresh and unfiltered information.

Online Shopping Takes Off in HK, Says Nielsen//NetRatings

2004-10-12T19:55:00.002+08:00

October 12, 2004 (HONG KONG) -- Nielsen//NetRatings reported that the most popular Hong Kong shopping websites received 20% more visitors in the quarter ending August 2004 compared with the corresponding period a year ago.

An audience of 1.6 million people, representing 50% of all at home Internet users in Hong Kong, hit the shops from behind their computer, bringing visitor growth to online shopping sites beyond the overall at home Internet traffic surge level of 14%.

Figures released from Nielsen//NetRatings' Global Internet Trends survey show users are not just visiting the sites, but they are also buying items. The number of Internet users who have purchased something online grew from 5% a year ago to 14% today.

Yahoo! Auctions is the top ranking online shopping Website and saw its audience increase from 325,000 unique visitors during the quarter ending August 2003 to 753,000 in the same period of 2004. YesAsia.com takes second position and earns itself the most popular mass merchandising site with a 16.5% reach among active Internet users between June and August 2004. Its monthly visitor numbers increased from 91,000 users in August 2002, to 110,000 last year, to 237,000 at the end of August 2004.

Peter Steyn, managing director, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong, said, "Yahoo! Auctions, YesAsia.com and eBay have all experienced phenomenal growth. This shows that Internet users have more faith in Internet security for online payments. They have started to realize how convenient and practical online shopping can be."

Possibly unlike its offline counterpart, online shopping is very popular among men, with 57% of the shoppers being male. Interestingly, figures released suggest the younger the user the more likely they are to visit a shopping Website. 66.5% of Internet users in the 12 to 17 year old age bracket visited a shopping site, compared with 60.5% of those aged between 18 to 34 and just 38% of those aged 35+.

A Global Audience for a Global Medium - A look at the online news and information audience

2004-09-23T08:07:00.002+08:00

Presentation by Peter Steyn, Nielsen//NetRatings

The Internet has changed the way we communicate en masse as well as how we communicate one-on-one. People are increasingly flocking to the Internet, and spending a substantial part of their day online, surfing. The average Internet user in developed countries spends slightly more than 11 hours a month surfing the Internet from home — with Asians known to be substantially heavier users of the medium.

When events of major international significance occur, both locally and around the world, people are turning increasingly to the Internet as the most up to date and comprehensive news source. While television remains an important medium as a source for news, viewers are increasingly relying on the Internet to complement their television coverage — providing more in-depth analysis, statistics, and other interactive features such as chat rooms, instant messaging, streaming videos, pictures, and 3D rotation animations. Most often, television and the Internet are consumed simultaneously. This "dual" and "simultaneous" usage, in particularly during breaking news events, is more prevalent among the younger generation, who are spending much of their free time on the Internet, and not all of them just for the fun of it. The recent Iraq war and outbreak of SARS attracted a significant number of young Internet users to current affairs and news sites.

As an interactive medium, the Internet offers a plethora of opportunities to engage the reader and communicate news in a creative way.

Over the past three or four years, a number of news sites have faded into oblivion, while others have flourished and are now considered leaders in their respected fields. A key ingredient for the successful ones has been access to timely, accurate and comprehensive data that has given them a thorough understanding of their target audience and provided a measure of how successful they have been in reaching them. In addition, collecting competitor intelligence on the Internet has proved easy, accurate and comprehensive.

Data has been available for media such as television, print and radio for many years. In contrast, Internet audience measurement is still in its early phases. The Internet allows for several measurement approaches, including survey research, panel data, server log data, ISP data, and ad-network data, to name a few. This presentation will address some approaches to Internet audience measurement, with the focus on audience panel data. A global "status report" on the internet around the world in major markets will be presented, including the growth of online audiences to news sites with a specific focus on Hong Kong. And as technology allows us to collect comprehensive data about Internet usage, we can now more accurately track ad exposure and interactivity. The final part of the presentation will address ad tracking and online campaign planning through the use of panel data.

Battle for offering better content and package deals heats up in travel sector:

2004-08-31T07:46:00.002+08:00

Hong Kong, August 18, 2004 – Hong Kong Internet users are increasingly turning online to plan that perfect vacation or hassle-free business trip, according to the latest information from Nielsen//NetRatings.

During the second quarter ending June 2004, most of the top five travel websites showed an impressive increase in Hong Kong at-home users compared with a year ago. The fastest growing site, China Travel Net Hong Kong* (ctshk.com) increased by 103% to reach 158,000 users. Yahoo! Travel remains the most popular online travel site among Hong Kong's at-home surfers, attracting more than 271,000 unique visitors, a growth rate of 20%.

However, there is no clear answer as to whether increased surfing on popular websites is translating into a significant increase in tickets purchased over the Internet, or whether consumers are simply conducting research online before purchasing offline from their favourite travel agent.

"Hong Kong's travel industry boom in the post-SARS period presents an excellent opportunity for the development of e-commerce in Hong Kong, just as online ticketing has been driving recent Internet business growth in the US," said Peter Steyn Managing Director, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong. "For this to happen, travel industry players must continue to improve their online service in order to encourage more local surfers to take advantage of the convenience of the Internet – not just to browse but also to purchase goods and services".

Citing the convenience of face-to-face shopping in Hong Kong and the continuing reluctance of people to trust the Internet with their credit card number, Steyn added: "E-commerce faces some additional challenges to building momentum among local consumers, however the latest report shows that traditional travel agencies are boosting their efforts online with positive results"

The Nielsen//NetRatings quarterly review of Hong Kong's at-home Internet users showed that Cathay Pacific clinched the top ranking airline spot with its site receiving 157,000 unique users, an 8% increase compared to the same period last year. China Travel Net Hong Kong (CTN) was ranked number one among travel agencies followed by Wing On Travel and Hong Thai Travel. Hong Thai Travel, which ranked in sixth place, increased its audience by a healthy 19% over the past year. Zuji, the increasingly popular online travel-booking site that didn't even exist a year ago, now has an audience of 149,000 unique for the quarter ending June 2004. Other travel websites that have performed well over the past year include Cathay Pacific Holidays, Airticket.com, Dragon Air, Evergloss Tours, and Morning Star Travel.

Among the top ranking local transportation sites were Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB), MTR Corporation, Citybus, Hong Kong International Airport, KCRC, and New World First Bus.

In addition Steyn pointed out that the number of at-home Internet users increased by 34% over the past 3 years while the amount of time people spent online almost doubled during this period. On average, at-home Internet users now spend 35 and half hours online per month.

"Internet audiences have reached significantly higher levels after the travel sector was badly affected early last year," said Steyn. "The question now is whether these gains will be sustained in the longer term and convert shoppers into purchasers.

	Qtr Ending June 04Unique Audience	Qtr Ending June 03 Unique Audience	Change
TOTAL TRAVEL	1,281,000	1,170,000	9%
Yahoo! Travel	271,000	226,000	20%
China Travel Net Hong Kong	158,000	78,000	103%
Cathay Pacific Airlines	157,000	146,000	8%
ZUJI	149,000	NA	NA
Wing On Travel	136,000	100,000	36

Information provided by Nielsen//NetRatings

Use of Digital Marketing Is On the Rise

2004-07-24T07:49:00.001+08:00

Hong Kong, July 23, 2004 - According to a survey conducted by the Asia Digital Marketing Association (ADMA) with the support of MEDIA Magazine, and recent data released by DoubleClick and Nielsen//NetRatings, use of digital marketing is on the rise in Asia Pacific and online activity by users and businesses remains at all time high levels. However, it is clear that businesses still have not tapped the medium's full potential, and it underscores the need for marketers to follow responsible guidelines for online behavior to protect privacy and the ongoing effectiveness of the medium.

77% of the ADMA survey respondents say they utilize digital marketing, 20% spent at least 15% of their total marketing budgets online, and 4 in 10 respondents indicate they have increased their budgets over last year. It's clear that businesses are a long way away from tapping the medium's full potential, with most companies focusing on their websites (80%), e-newsletters (66%) and e-mail marketing (66%), while making less use of search engine marketing (26%) and online advertising (38%). Companies also underutilize their customer databases as a marketing resource: 94% maintain databases, but 50% communicate with their customers only on an occasional basis. 20% of businesses don't seek permission or offer an opt out option for their e-mail marketing, which raises privacy concerns.

"The ADMA survey paints a picture of a medium in development," said Douglas Khoo, who led the ADMA research effort. "There is a large gap in the activity level between the most enthusiastic users of digital marketing, and those companies that are just getting started or are underutilizing their online marketing resources. The growth is strong, but the real potential is for companies to make more sophisticated and comprehensive use of this developing medium."

"It is very encouraging that more and more traditional advertisers are adopting online advertising to reach their targeted audience," said DoubleClick's Managing Director Asia Pacific, Ralf Hirt. "Internet media consumption is up and therefore advertisers want to reach consumers where they actually are. Smart tools and reports make this extremely effective. Online ads are becoming both larger and richer. Online advertising is an important part of every integrated advertising strategy and in fact it is significantly increasing as the advantages are so obvious."

Over the past three years, the number of Hong Kong people using the Internet at home has increased by 34%, while the amount of time spent surfing has almost doubled from an average of 11 hours 46 minutes per person in June 2001 to 22 hours and 38 minutes in June of this year. When time spent using Internet applications such as Instant Messaging or Media Players is included, the average time spent in June 2004 was a phenomenal 35 hours and 26 minutes.

"While some advertisers remain hesitant to utilize digital marketing, in particular search engine marketing and online advertising, the Internet is undisputedly the best medium to reach audiences below the age of 35 living in above average income households," said Peter Steyn, Managing Director, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong/Singapore. "The latest figures also indicate that eight out of ten people use a search engine, which can prove to be a very effective marketing tool."

"The fact that digital marketing has earned a place in the collection of integrated marketing tools is exciting," said David Ketchum, Chairman of the ADMA. "However, continued growth without responsible use of the medium can potentially impinge on consumers privacy and ultimately cause a decline in its effectiveness. The ADMA urges all marketers to follow industry guidelines for responsible online marketing."

The ADMA guidelines for marketers, as well as anti-spam tips for consumers can be found at www.asiadma.com.

The survey's purpose was to establish the state of digital marketing in the Asia Pacific region and was conducted amongst marketers from varied industries. Questionnaires were emailed to a pre-qualified list of respondents who had opted-in to receive communications. The sample size of the survey is 111 respondents and the survey was conducted in June 2004.

Asian broadband : Is there a business out there yet?

2004-05-04T22:00:00.002+08:00

Whatever the future of broadband might be, Asia is the place it’s surely being written. From near-saturation of Korea to the fast growth of China, it has markets in every stage of evolution.

The one common thread is that operators in all these markets are looking for applications beyond connectivity: Wi-Fi roaming, IP TV, VoIP, games and security packages are all part of the mix.

But in a tough and often over-competitive business, the new services are not necessarily bringing home the bacon.

Research house Ovum points out that DSL deployment can reverse the long-term decline in ARPU “but [carriers] should not expect high margins.”

The plus for telcos is that the mass takeup of broadband is changing the way people behave online.

Hong Kong users – of whom 60% have access to broadband – are spending 21 hours per month online, according to Peter Steyn of Nielsen//Netratings. A year ago, that was 16 hours. “Broadband has a huge impact on customers’ behavior,” he says. P2P downloads, video and audio streaming and Internet radio are the big improvers.

The problem with broadband, though, is that it is flexible, scalable and highly efficient: 111 times more efficient than private network options, per megabit per second, according to the ITU.

So while large carriers are focusing on residential customers and apps, smaller competitors are chasing the business market. The combination of IP and DSL could be a lethal one yet for incumbents.

Internet shopping surges in popularity in Hong Kong

2003-10-07T20:24:00.001+08:00

Oct 7, 2003 -HONG KONG: Internet shopping in Hong Kong has surged in popularity in the past year but most people appear to be only window-shopping, a survey published Friday found.

The most popular shopping sites, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have seen a 47% rise in visits by Hong Kong people, according to Internet market research company Nielsen/NetRatings.

A total of 823,000 Hong Kong people visited the top 100 shopping sites this year compared with 562,000 this year, researchers found.

The number of people using the Internet in the territory has risen from 1.7 million to 2.1 million over the same period.

Nielsen/NetRatings director Peter Steyn told Friday's South China Morning Post that despite the rise in visits to shopping sites, Hong Kong people were using the Internet to compare products and prices.

Hong Kong consumers are wary about spending money online, thinking the technology unsafe, and prefer to browse the Internet for price comparisons before buying in shops. - dpa

E-government shows steady gains in Hong Kong

2003-10-04T08:03:00.001+08:00

E-government in the HKSAR is showing signs of life with the number of people visiting gov.hk domains from home growing 46 percent year on year, compared to only 24 percent growth in the total number of people using the Internet in Hong Kong over the same period, according to latest information from Nielsen//NetRatings. "Year on year, the growth of audiences to each of the top 10 gov.hk domains outstripped overall Internet user growth in Hong Kong. In August 2002, no less than 34 percent of at-home surfers visited a gov.hk site," stated Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong in a press release.

The general Hong Kong government information at info.gov.hk made it the top-ranking domain within the gov.hk property, recording a total of 407,592 unique visitors in August. The site contains comprehensive information about the Hong Kong SAR, including government services and news, and attracts a heavy 18 to 34 year old following.

"The second and third ranked -- lcsd.gov.hk and hkpl.gov.hk -- have consistently recorded increases in audience numbers since they were launched in Hong Kong. Lcsd.gov.hk provides information on leisure and cultural services, museums, performing arts, recreation and sports. Hkpl.gov.hk, the Hong Kong public libraries site, is an increasingly popular site in Hong Kong and offers the convenience of online library browsing, as well as reserving and renewing of library books," noted Steyn.

The fourth ranked hko.gov.hk and seventh ranked weather.gov.hk, both directing to the Hong Kong Observatory site, had a combined unique audience (unduplicated) of 190,000, which would place them at rank number two. The site carries comprehensive information about the current weather and forecasts, up-to-date tracking of cyclones, and a wealth of statistics and weather related information and news.

The fifth ranking domain, jobs.gov.hk, had the second highest year on year growth among the top 10 gov.hk domains, with unemployment in Hong Kong currently sitting well above seven per cent

"Jobs.gov.hk now ranks number one in the overall job search category in Hong Kong, up from number three a year ago. While audiences to the site grew by 154 percent, page views on the site more than tripled, to make it the top ranking gov.hk site based on page views. Its August 2002 audience is slightly lower than its all-time high audience in May, June, and July 2002," added Steyn.

What SARS taught us about why we go online

2003-08-17T12:01:00.002+08:00

Meer internetters door Sars-crisis

2003-08-07T08:33:00.001+08:00

Gepubliceerd door Godius op woensdag 6 augustus 2003 12:48

Het internetgebruik in Hong Kong blijft ook na de Sars-crisis stijgen. Steeg het gebruik van met name sites met medische informatie, nieuws, webwinkels en banken gedurende de Sars-epidemie van eind maart tot en met mei van dit jaar fors, ook na het sein 'all-clear' blijft het gebruik van online-diensten toenemen. Dat meldt onderzoeksbureau Nielsen/NetRatings. Tijdens de 'crisisperiode' zetten veel inwoners van Hong Kong hun activiteiten buitenshuis op een lager pitje. Veel zaken, zoals boodschappen en bankzaken, werden in die periode online geregeld. In april steeg het aantal internetgebruikers met maar liefst 13 procent ten opzichte van de maand ervoor. Gemiddeld waren zij die maand 22,5 uur online, tegen zestien uur in de maanden voordat de Sars-epidemie uitbrak.

In juni, de eerste 'Sars-vrije' maand na de uitbraak, daalde het internetgebruik weliswaar licht ten opzichte van de twee voorgaande maanden, maar het schommelt nog altijd aanzienlijk boven het niveau van voor de crisis. Zo lag het aantal surfers naar sites van banken in juni 26 procent hoger dan in de maand februari. "Het is de vraag of deze groei op de lange termijn vastgehouden kan worden", zegt Peter Steyn van Nielsen/Netratings.

HK cybersurfers stay online

2003-08-01T22:13:00.001+08:00

Posted:9:39 PM (Manila Time) | Aug. 01, 2003
Agence France-Presse

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong residents who turned to the Internet for entertainment during the devastating SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak have continued surfing in cyberspace more than a month after the crisis passed, a survey found Thursday.

Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director for Nielsen//Netratings, said the outbreak of SARS had a profound effect on Internet audiences between late-March to May.

"Traffic to Internet sites for shopping, banking, news, medical information and education grew to record highs as people stayed at home and looked for ways to continue with their lives online," said Steyn.

At the height of the crisis in April, numbers of active Internet users rose 13 percent from the previous month, the fastest month-on-month increase in over two years, with Hong Kong users spending on average 22.5 hours online compared with about 16 hours a month in the six months prior to SARS.

Steyn noted that while Internet usage after the SARS crisis had decreased slightly from their peak, figures for June still showed a significant increase over February, the month before SARS struck.

"For example, websites in the banking sector saw a huge 26 percent increase in users in June over February, translating into an increase in audience reach of three percentage points," he said.

Not all websites benefited from the increased Internet usage during the crisis with users avoiding travel sites, as they put off vacations for fear of contracting the deadly virus on board airplanes.

"However, with the all-clear signal in June, audiences to travel sites increased by 37 percent compared with April, as people took advantage of a variety of travel deals," he said.

"There is little doubt that Internet audiences post-SARS have reached significantly higher levels than before the epidemic," said Steyn. "The question now is whether these gains will be sustained in the longer term."

Hong Kong was the world's second worst hit SARS region with at least 297 deaths from nearly 1,800 infections. It was removed from the World Health Organization's list of SARS-affected areas on June 23.

The 13-week outbreak battered Hong Kong's retail and restaurant businesses as many of the city's 6.8 million residents donned surgical masks and steered clear of crowded shopping malls to avoid contracting the deadly pneumonia-like virus.

SARS stimulates ongoing growth in Internet usage in Hong Kong

2003-08-01T22:10:00.001+08:00

IE Asia Team , 1-Aug-2003 www.intelligentasia.com

Hong Kong residents cut back on their outdoor activities during the critical months of the recent SARS crisis, preferring to head to the Internet for essential medical information, news, as well as for online shopping, banking and education. What's more, they appear to have continued to enjoy these online services even after the all-clear, according to the latest information from Nielsen/NetRatings Hong Kong.

"The SARS crisis had a profound effect on Internet audiences in Hong Kong over the period from late March through to May. Traffic to Internet sites for shopping, banking, news, medical information and education grew to record highs," said Peter Steyn, Sales and Marketing Director, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong.

At the height of the crisis in April, the number of active Internet users increased by 13% compared with the previous month - the fastest month-on-month growth in more than two years.

Usage levels also spiked in April, when Hong Kong people spent, on average, 22.5 hours online, compared to an average of just under 16 hours per month during the six months preceding SARS. Pages viewed increased by 44% in April compared with February, while the average number of domains accessed per person increased from 61 to 73.

"While Internet usage declined slightly post-SARS following their peak levels during the outbreak, our June figures still show significant increases over February,” Steyn said.

For example, he pointed out that Web sites in the banking sector saw a huge 26% increase in users in June over February, translating into an increase in audience reach of three percentage points.

Understandably, the travel category suffered during the crisis. However, with the all-clear signal in June, audiences to travel sites increased by 37% compared with April, as people took advantage of a variety of travel deals.

Among the categories analysed by Nielsen//NetRatings, online news sites experienced the highest growth (40%) in unique audience during April compared with February; followed by Education sites (36%); Bank sites (27%) and Shopping (15%).

Growth of the Shopping category was offset by a marked decline in movie/event ticket booking sites, and a drop in traffic to some travel sites. Several online shopping sites have, however, continued to increase their audience in June.

"There is little doubt that Internet audiences post-SARS have reached significantly higher levels than before the epidemic," said Steyn. "The question now is whether these gains will be sustained in the longer term."

Hong Kong cybersurfers stay online in wake of Sars crisis

2003-08-01T20:30:00.001+08:00

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Friday, August 1, 2003 - Hong Kongers who turned to the Internet for entertainment during the devastating Sars outbreak have continued surfing in cyberspace more than a month after the crisis passed, a survey found on Thursday.

Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director for Nielsen Netratings, said the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) had a profound effect on Internet audiences between late-March to May.

"Traffic to Internet sites for shopping, banking, news, medical information and education grew to record highs as people stayed at home and looked for ways to continue with their lives online," said Mr Steyn.

At the height of the crisis in April, numbers of active Internet users rose 13 per cent from the previous month, the fastest month-on-month increased in over two years, with Hong Kong users spending on average 22.5 hours online compared with about 16 hours a month in the six months prior to Sars.

Mr Steyn noted while Internet usage after the Sars crisis had decreased slightly from their peak, figures for June still showed a significant increase over February, the month before Sars struck.

"For example, websites in the banking sector saw a huge 26 percent increase in users in June over February, translating into an increase in audience reach of three percentage points," he said.

Not all websites benefited from the increased Internet usage during the crisis with users avoiding travel sites, as they put off vacations for fear of contracting the deadly virus on board airplanes.

"However, with the all-clear signal in June, audiences to travel sites increased by 37 per cent compared with April, as people took advantage of a variety of travel deals," he said.

"There is little doubt that Internet audiences post-Sars have reached significantly higher levels than before the epidemic," said Mr Steyn.

"The question now is whether these gains will be sustained in the longer term."

Hong Kong was the world's second worst hit Sars region with at least 297 deaths from nearly 1,800 infections. It was removed from the World Health Organization's list of Sars-affected areas on June 23.

The 13-week outbreak battered Hong Kong's retail and restaurant businesses as many of the city's 6.8 million residents donned surgical masks and steered clear of crowded shopping malls to avoid contracting the deadly pneumonia-like virus.

Staying online after SARS

2003-08-01T12:08:00.002+08:00

Posted Fri, 01 Aug 2003 (iafrica.com)

Hong Kongers who turned to the internet for entertainment during the devastating SARS outbreak have continued surfing in cyberspace more than a month after the crisis passed, a survey found on Thursday.

Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director for Nielsen Netratings, said the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) had a profound effect on internet audiences between late-March to May.

Record highs

"Traffic to internet sites for shopping, banking, news, medical information and education grew to record highs as people stayed at home and looked for ways to continue with their lives online," said Steyn.

At the height of the crisis in April, numbers of active internet users rose 13 percent from the previous month, the fastest month-on-month increased in over two years, with Hong Kong users spending on average 22.5 hours online compared with about 16 hours a month in the six months prior to SARS.

Significant increase

Steyn noted while internet usage after the SARS crisis had decreased slightly from their peak, figures for June still showed a significant increase over February, the month before SARS struck.

"For example, websites in the banking sector saw a huge 26 percent increase in users in June over February, translating into an increase in audience reach of three percentage points," he said.

Travel sites avoided

Not all websites benefited from the increased internet usage during the crisis with users avoiding travel sites, as they put off vacations for fear of contracting the deadly virus on board airplanes.

"However, with the all-clear signal in June, audiences to travel sites increased by 37 percent compared with April, as people took advantage of a variety of travel deals," he said.

"There is little doubt that internet audiences post-SARS have reached significantly higher levels than before the epidemic," said Steyn. "The question now is whether these gains will be sustained in the longer term."

Second worst hit SARS region

Hong Kong was the world's second worst hit SARS region with at least 297 deaths from nearly 1800 infections. It was removed from the World Health Organization's list of SARS-affected areas on June 23.

AFP

This article is a printout from iafrica.com

SARS gunstig voor internet in Hongkong (Netherlands report)

2003-07-31T12:05:00.001+08:00

HONGKONG (IPB) - Voor internetbedrijven in Hongkong heeft de SARS-epidemie van eerder dit jaar gunstig uitgepakt. Omdat mensen vanwege de longziekte de deur niet meer uit durfden, zochten ze hun toevlucht op het web. Dit meldt het internetbedrijf Nielsen Netratings donderdag.

Nadat de Chinese provincie op 23 juni SARS-vrij werd verklaard, bleef het internetgebruik hoog. ,,Het lijdt geen twijfel dat de SARS-epidemie goed is geweest voor internet in Hongkong'', meent woordvoerder Peter Steyn van Nielsen Netratings. ,,Nu is het vraag of dit op de langere termijn zo blijft.''

SARS zorgde in Hongkong voor een toename van 13 procent in het internetgebruik. Die stijging vond plaats in april, op het hoogtepunt van de SARS-epidemie. Zo'n 6,8 miljoen Hongkong-chinezen zaten tijdens de SARS-periode gemiddeld 22,5 uur per maand op het web. Voor de uitbraak van de ziekte was dat 16 uur.

,,Het bezoek aan websites van banken, kranten, medische informatie en onderwijsinstellingen groeide tot recordhoogten'', zegt Steyn. De pagina's van reisbureaus en luchtvaart hadden het heel moeilijk. Nadat de stad officieel SARS-vrij was, steeg het aantal bezoekers aan reissites met 37 procent.

Na China is Hongkong het zwaarst getroffen door SARS. De longziekte kostte daar aan minstens 297 mensen het leven.

SARS roztáčí asijské internetové obchody

2003-06-23T08:42:00.001+08:00

www.idnes.cz, Prague

Strach ze SARS v asijských zemích prudce zvedl tržby internetových obchodů. Lidé se kvůli smrtícímu plicnímu viru bojí vycházet na ulici. Firmy, které jsou schopné prodávat zboží po síti, zaznamenaly obrat vyšší o polovinu, naopak "kamenné" obchody trpí. Stoupl i zájem o internetové bankovnictví.

Z výzkumu společnosti Nielsen/Netratings v Hongkongu vyplynulo, že počet uživatelů internetu v SARS nejpostiženější zemi světa v dubnu stoupl o třináct procent na 2,45 milionu.

"Jakmile v dubnu opanoval Hongkong strach ze SARS, lidé dali přednost surfování na internetu před bloumáním po ulicích a stáním ve frontách. Také své peníze raději spravují po síti," konstatoval marketingový šéf Nielsenu Peter Steyn.

Počet uživatelů hongkongského nákupního portálu, který patří největšímu maloobchodnímu řetězci Park 'n' Shop, stoupl o nečekaných 161 procent, on-line banking využívalo o čtvrtinu lidí více.

Rostly ale i jiné internetové stránky. Některé školy například na web přemístily část vyučování, stoupl zájem o zpravodajství a zdravotnické informace.

Podobně bouřlivý vývoj zájmu o nakupování on-line zaznamenala i Čína. Tamní trh je ale stále poměrně výrazně svázán potřebou lidí sáhnout si na kupované zboží a omezeným použitím platebních karet.

Lidé se obrátili hlavně na prodejce knih, filmů a ostatní zábavy, a také na internetové drogerie nabízející dezinfekční prostředky.

V Číně je téměř 60 milionů uživatelů internetu, za což jí patří druhé místo na světě. Tři čtvrtiny z nich od vypuknutí epidemie SARS navštívily internetový obchod. Těch je zemi zhruba tisíc, uvedla ČTK.

Mua sắm trực tuyến ở Hong Kong tăng nhờ… SARS

2003-05-31T08:24:00.001+08:00

Saigon, Vietnam

Theo công ty nghiên cứu thị trường Nielsen/NetRatings, từ tháng 2 đến tháng 4, khách hàng đi chợ trên mạng ở Hong Kong tăng từ 2,2 lên 2,4 triệu người. Nỗi lo sợ về bệnh viêm đường hô hấp cấp khiến cho dịch vụ mua sắm, giao dịch trên Internet nở rộ.

Peter Steyn, nhà phân tích của Nielsen, cho biết virus SARS đã làm cho nhiều hoạt động kinh doanh ở đây trì trệ, nhưng lĩnh vực thương mại điện tử lại khả quan do có nhiều người thích mua hàng và giao dịch ngân hàng qua mạng hơn là đến những nơi đông đúc.

Parknshop.com, website của loạt siêu thị do Hutchison Whampoa quản lý, có tới 78.830 khách hàng, tăng 161% so với 2 tháng đầu năm. Site nổi tiếng Yahoo Shopping/Auction đạt 429.710 người dùng trong tháng 4, tăng 16%.

Trong hai tháng 3 và 4, giao dịch ngân hàng qua mạng tăng 25% ở Hong Kong. Trong đó, site của Ngân hàng Han Seng có 229.130 khách hàng truy cập, tăng 41%, HSBC có 374.500, tăng 34%. Tuy nhiên, các trang web bán vé máy bay, du lịch, xem phim giảm mạnh. Ví dụ trang Cinema.com.hk giảm 24%, chỉ có 108.100 người.

Online sales hoped to outlive SARS

2003-05-28T12:12:00.001+08:00

by Alan Low (iafrica.com)

Posted Wed, 28 May 2003

For the past two months, Hong Kong web portals have seen soaring usage and booming sales of everything from DVDs to bleach as fears over SARS made sure the only place residents visited was cyberspace.

But with signs that the worst of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak is over and as more residents venture into crowded streets and shopping malls, internet executives are hoping the killer virus has led to a permanent change of attitudes toward shopping on the web.

Peter Steyn, director of sales and marketing at Nielsen/Netratings, which tracks internet usage, said home online users rose 13 percent in April, the first month fully reflecting the impact of SARS, which struck in mid-March, compared to February.

"As worries over SARS gripped Hong Kong in April, consumers turned more to the internet to find shopping deals and check out their finances instead of walking in crowded places and standing in queues," said Steyn.

Grocery and banking websites recorded highest surge in hits

Grocery and banking websites were among those recording the highest surge in hits.

"Grocery store Parknshop.com experienced huge growth with visitor numbers up 161 percent since the SARS outbreak," said Steyn. Numbers of cyber surfers visiting the Bank of China's site soared 58 percent over the same period.

In addition to shopping, the net also proved hugely popular for providing up-to-date SARS news for homebound Hong Kongers with usage of news sites leaping 40 percent.

Surfing for SARS bulletins also proved popular among the estimated 60 million internet users in China, where SARS first emerged in the southern province of Guangdong in November.

Baidu, a Chinese language search engine based in Beijing, the world's worst-hit SARS city with 160 deaths and 2465 cases, reported an overall nine percent rise in daily hits last month.

Sohu.com also noted SARS was its most popular search item, generating some 30 000 entries a day.

It was estimated that at peak times, more than one million people in Beijing were trying to get online at the same time jamming connections so that even making a phone call proved difficult.

Is it sustainable?

However, with signs the outbreak is slowing in both Hong Kong and mainland China, industry executives have expressed doubts whether the surge in web use, and hence online sales, is sustainable.

The deadly SARS respiratory virus, for which no cure or vaccine exists, has killed 262 people in Hong Kong from more than 1700 infections, though there have been markedly fewer new SARS cases in recent weeks.

Steyn said it would be interesting to see how many new net users continued to use online services - particularly shopping portals. "It could end up being a silver lining on the SARS cloud.

"I doubt if usage will fall back to the pre-SARS January level ... but whether it will be as high as SARS-levels, I don't think so."

Yahoo! Hong Kong, the territory's number one website in terms of users and traffic, which in April reported a more than 100-percent surge in online sales revenue, expressed concern the rise was not sustainable.

"We are not sure what will happen once SARS is over, but we hope people who had fears about online security will now be encouraged to keep using online shopping services now they have tried them and found them to be safe," said Arthur Chow, Marketing Manager at Yahoo!.

Spokesperson for Park n Shop, Theresa Pang, said online sales had now "settled at around 20 percent higher since the onset of SARS, or 60 percent higher than for the same time last year".

"We hope it doesn't fall back to pre-SARS levels and hopefully we can sustain the 20 percent growth going forward."

Online sales for travel websites, which fell last month as residents shunned travel because of fears of contracting SARS from infected passengers, was expected to rebound after the World Health Organisation lifted an April 2 warning against travel to Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong last Friday.

The China Travel website, which saw a 24-percent fall in hits in April, has already recorded a pickup this month along with other travel websites as people rush to take advantage of cut-price travel deals.

AFP

Bezoek online winkels stijgt door SARS

2003-05-27T08:27:00.001+08:00

Bezoekersaantallen van online winkels in Azi? zijn door de vrees voor longziekte SARS flink gestegen. Het internetgebruik thuis is in de getroffen gebieden in april vergeleken met februari 13 procent gestegen, blijkt uit cijfers van Nielsen/Netratings.

,,Sinds de zorgen over de besmettelijke ziekte Hongkong troffen, mijdt de consument drukke buitenplaatsen en wendt zich tot internet voor zijn boodschappen en bankzaken'', zegt Peter Steyn van onderzoeksbureau Nielsen/Netratings.

De bezoekersaantallen van online supermarkt parknshop.com zijn met 161 procent gestegen. De website van de Bank of China registreerde een toename van 58 procent. Parknshop hoopt de bezoekers vast te kunnen houden nu de epidemie over zijn piek lijkt

In Hongkong zijn tot maandag 262 mensen overleden aan SARS, er zijn meer dan 1700 mensen ge?nfecteerd met de besmettelijke longziekte.

HK residents feel safe in cyberspace

2003-05-27T07:31:00.001+08:00

INCOMMUNICABLE VIRUSES: Web sites that cater to the daily needs of shoppers, such as grocery delivery and banking sites, are the beneficiaries of SARS caution

AFP, HONG KONG
Monday, May 26, 2003, Page 10

But with signs that the worst of the SARS outbreak is over and as more residents venture into crowded streets and shopping malls, Internet executives are hoping the killer virus has led to a permanent change of attitudes toward shopping on the web.

Peter Steyn, director of sales and marketing at Nielsen/Netratings, which tracks Internet usage, said home online users rose 13 percent last month, the first month fully reflecting the impact of SARS, which struck in mid-March, compared to February.

"As worries over SARS gripped Hong Kong [last month], consumers turned more to the Internet to find shopping deals and check out their finances instead of walking in crowded places and standing in queues," said Steyn.

Grocery and banking websites were among those recording the highest surge in hits.

In addition to shopping, the Net also proved hugely popular for providing up-to-date SARS news for homebound Hong Kongers with usage of news sites leaping 40 percent.

Surfing for SARS bulletins also proved popular among the estimated 60 million Internet users in China, where SARS first emerged in the southern province of Guangdong in November.

Baidu, a Chinese-language search engine based in Beijing, the world's worst-hit SARS city with 160 deaths and 2,465 cases, reported an overall 9 percent rise in daily hits last month.

Sohu.com also noted SARS was its most popular search item, generating some 30,000 entries a day.

It was estimated that at peak times, more than one million people in Beijing were trying to get online at the same time jamming connections so that even making a phone call proved difficult.

However, with signs the SARS outbreak is slowing in both Hong Kong and China, many industry executives have expressed doubts as to whether the surge in web use, and hence online sales, is sustainable.

The deadly SARS respiratory virus, for which no cure or vaccine exists, has killed 262 people in Hong Kong from more than 1,700 infections, though there have been markedly fewer new SARS cases in recent weeks.

Steyn said it would be interesting to see how many new Net users continued to use online services -- particularly shopping portals.

"It could end up being a silver lining on the SARS cloud. I doubt if usage will fall back to the pre-SARS January level ... but whether it will be as high as SARS-levels, I don't think so," Steyn said.

Yahoo! Hong Kong, the territory's number one website in terms of users and traffic, which last month reported a more than 100-percent surge in online sales revenue, expressed concern the rise was not sustainable.

Spokeswoman for Park-n-Shop, Theresa Pang, said online sales had now "settled at around 20 percent higher since the onset of SARS, or 60 percent higher than for the same time last year".

"We hope it doesn't fall back to pre-SARS levels and hopefully we can sustain the 20 percent growth going forward," said Pang.

This story has been viewed 2394 times.

SARS Boosts HK Consumers' Online Confidence

2003-05-26T22:06:00.001+08:00

May 26 2003 : Banks and online retailers in Asia are hoping that once the worst of the SARS pandemic passes, new levels of online banking and sales will remain buoyant as Internet users overcome initial security fears. In Hong Kong, Datamonitor confirms Internet banking rates to have increased by up to 40 per cent as branch traffic shifts to a less 'risky' channel, whereas previous penetration rates were about 8 per cent. Similarly, Hong Kong-based retailer, Park-n-Shop, reports online sales to be "20 per cent higher since the onset of SARS, or 60 per cent higher" than a year ago, while its web traffic has grown by 161 per cent.

Datamonitor says these trends "show the positive potential of disruptive forces such as SARS", which has driven branch traffic down by more than 50 per cent in key Asian markets. As such, "many financial services consumers are retaining their ability to access their financial services products via the Internet", notes analyst, Virginia Garcia. "In the longer term, this channel shift will prompt strategic investments in associated support infrastructure", Garcia advises, and "financial institutions must quickly adjust their ... service strategy... or risk losing customers once convenience overtakes necessity as a critical driver".

With Bank of East Asia, Hong Kong's fifth-largest bank, reporting e-banking transactions in April to have increased to a "mid-double digit" month-on-month total, the next step for banks will be to add security to their online services to assuage users' concerns once the SARS crisis tails off. Internet use in Hong Kong rose 13 per cent in April, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, while the Bank of China's site gained a 58 per cent increase in surfers. Peter Steyn, of Nielsen/NetRatings, doubts that online shopping "usage will fall back to pre-SARS levels", while Yahoo! Hong Kong hopes Internet users will continue shopping online.

Internet firms hope soaring HK Internet sales will outlive SARS

2003-05-25T20:34:00.001+08:00

HONG KONG, May 25 (AFP) - For the past two months, Hong Kong web portals have seen soaring usage and booming sales of everything from DVDs to bleach as fears over SARS made sure the only place residents visited was cyberspace.

But with signs that the worst of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak is over and as more residents venture into crowded streets and shopping malls, Internet executives are hoping the killer virus has led to a permanent change of attitudes toward shopping on the web.

Peter Steyn, director of sales and marketing at Nielsen/Netratings, which tracks Internet usage, said home online users rose 13 percent in April, the first month fully reflecting the impact of SARS, which struck in mid-March, compared to February.

"As worries over SARS gripped Hong Kong in April, consumers turned more to the Internet to find shopping deals and check out their finances instead of walking in crowded places and standing in queues," said Steyn.

Grocery and banking websites were among those recording the highest surge in hits.

In addition to shopping, the Net also proved hugely popular for providing up-to-date SARS news for homebound Hong Kongers with usage of news sites leaping 40 percent.

Surfing for SARS bulletins also proved popular among the estimated 60 million Internet users in China, where SARS first emerged in the southern province of Guangdong in November.

Baidu, a Chinese language search engine based in Beijing, the world's worst-hit SARS city with 160 deaths and 2,465 cases, reported an overall nine percent rise in daily hits last month.

Sohu.com also noted SARS was its most popular search item, generating some 30,000 entries a day.

It was estimated that at peak times, more than one million people in Beijing were trying to get online at the same time jamming connections so that even making a phone call proved difficult.

However, with signs the outbreak is slowing in both Hong Kong and mainland China, industry executives have expressed doubts whether the surge in web use, and hence online sales, is sustainable.

Steyn said it would be interesting to see how many new Net users continued to use online services -- particularly shopping portals. "It could end up being a silver lining on the SARS cloud.

"I doubt if usage will fall back to the pre-SARS January level ... but whether it will be as high as SARS-levels, I don't think so."

Spokeswoman for Park n Shop, Theresa Pang, said online sales had now "settled at around 20 percent higher since the onset of SARS, or 60 percent higher than for the same time last year".

"We hope it doesn't fall back to pre-SARS levels and hopefully we can sustain the 20 percent growth going forward."

Virus forces shoppers online

2003-05-22T22:55:00.001+08:00

Staff reporter

Hong Kong consumers increased online shopping by 13 per cent after the Sars outbreak, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Total Internet shoppers in April rose to 2.4 million from 2.2 million in February, the market research firm said.

``Consumers turned to the Internet for online shopping and banking, preferring to browse the Internet for shopping deals and check out their finances online rather than walk in crowded places or stand in queues,'' said the firm's director of sales and marketing Peter Steyn.

Parknshop.com, the website of the supermarket chain controlled by Hutchison Whampoa, recorded the largest percentage gain of 161 per cent to 78,830 users. The most popular site remained Yahoo Shopping/Auction, which rose 16 per cent to 429,710 users in April.

``It will be interesting to see how many of these new users continue to use online shopping sites, now they have visited once,'' said Steyn. ``It may end up being a silver lining on the Sars cloud for some of the online retailers.''

Online banking also gained popularity amid the Sars crisis with overall users rising by 25 per cent. Users of Bank of China's website rose by 58 per cent from February to 68,760 users in April, Hang Seng Bank's by 41 per cent to 229,130 and HSBC by 34 per cent to 374,500.

Declines were recorded in movie, event ticket and travel booking sites as people opted for in-home pursuits over out-of-home entertainment and travel, Nielsen/NetRatings said, with Cinema.com.hk, for example, suffering a 24 per cent decrease of users to 108,100.

Hong Kong's shoppers seek online refuge

2003-05-19T12:24:00.001+08:00

By Maija Pesola in London and Justine Lau in Hong Kong

Financial Times

Like many Hong Kong companies, cosmetics seller Sa Sa International Holding had abandoned the idea that online sales would ever be a big part of its business.

After all, Hong Kong has a reputation as a consumers' paradise, where many people list "shopping" as a favourite hobby. The city's compactness, convenience and plethora of malls have made it a place where people like to shop face-to-face.

All that has changed, however, since the outbreak of Sars in the territory in mid-March. "With Sars, people have realised that shopping online can help them buy things in the safety of their homes," said Sa Sa spokesperson Macy Leung.

Sa Sa's online sales in the second half of March rose 25 per cent compared with the first half of the month and have continued to increase in April.

Web surfers have been snapping up surgical masks, hand moisturiser (because all of that hand washing dries out the skin), thermometers and anti-acne products to combat oily skin from mask wearing.

This is a marked turnaround from the recent past, according to Peter Steyn, director of Nielsen Net/Ratings Hong Kong, which tracks online activity in the region.

"People in Hong Kong love to go shopping - it is part of the culture. But they love to feel and touch the things they are buying," says Mr Steyn.

In the US, for example, an estimated 62 per cent of internet users had purchased products online as of October last year, compared with only 18 per cent in Hong Kong.

However, preliminary data from Nielsen Hong Kong indicate big increases in traffic to e-commerce websites such as Ebay and Amazon and Yahoo Hong Kong's virtual mall in April as panic about the virus began to take hold.

"The increase wasn't initially that great, because people were rushing out to buy things that were in short supply. But now they are spending more time at home, and they are coming on to the internet more," said Arthur Chow, Yahoo Hong Kong's manager of business and marketing.

According to preliminary figures by Nielsen, Yahoo, the most frequently visited site, saw a 16 per cent jump in visitor numbers, while visitors to Ebay increased 25 per cent, and Amazon user numbers jumped 23 per cent. Yesasia.com, an Asia-based online retailer that sells everything from CDs and comics to cuddly toys, has seen a 60 per cent increase in traffic.

Hot selling items include groceries and bleach - used to sterilise homes to help stop the disease spreading. Park N Shop, Hong Kong's largest supermarket chain, is reporting a 40 per cent rise in online sales since March.

Not all e-commerce sites have benefited. The flip side of increased DVD sales is a 34 per cent decrease in traffic at cinema.com.hk, the site for booking cinema tickets online.

But overall, e-tailers are hopeful that these exceptional times will create a lasting shift in Hong Kong's consumer behaviour.

"This is acting as a catalyst, pushing people who have not tried before to shop online for the first time," said Mr Chow. "Maybe, if they are satisfied with the service, they will continue."

El SARS aumenta compras online

2003-05-19T08:37:00.001+08:00

SYDNEY, (Reuters).- El tráfico online de sitios de compras, educación, noticias, salud y bancos aumentó en Hong Kong dado que la gente busca la seguridad del hogar para protegerse del virus que causa el SARS y mantenerse lejos de los lugares públicos, según un sondeo.

La firma que supervisa la Internet Nielsen/NetRatings dijo que abril fue el primer mes desde febrero del 2001 en que el número de usuarios activos de la red en la ciudad mostró un crecimiento de dos dígitos.

El tráfico aumentó notablemente cuando los cibernautas exploraron sitios que normalmente no visitarían, dijo el director de mercadeo en Hong Kong de la agencia, Peter Steyn.

El SARS apareció en el sur de China a fines del año pasado antes de diseminarse por el mundo. El brote rebasó las fronteras de Hong Kong en marzo.

El SARS ha matado a casi 600 personas en todo el mundo e infectado a más de 7.600 en 30 países desde que se originó en el sur de China.

Nielsen/NetRatings comentó que el tráfico en los cibersitios nuevos aumentó el 40 por ciento en abril, en comparación con febrero, los visitantes a portales de educación aumentaron un 36 por ciento y el tráfico a cibersitios de bancos se incrementó en un 27 por ciento.

La cifra de personas que visitan sitios de compras generales aumentó un 15 por ciento, pero la categoría estaba modificada por una reducción significativa en el tráfico a sitios de películas y de compra de entradas para programas recreativos y portales de viajes.

Nielsen/NetRatings no aportó información del sondeo sobre el uso de la Internet en otras áreas de Asia afectadas por el SARS o atemorizadas por la enfermedad.

Email still rules, says Nielsen/NetRatings

2003-05-18T12:20:00.004+08:00

www.telecomasia.net


Email is still the dominant Internet application, according to the latest Nielsen/NetRatings Global Trend survey.

The survey of 12 countries in the past six months found that at least 75% of households with Internet access used email. In Australia, the UK and the Netherlands, 90% of all adults had used email in the period.

By contrast, involvement in chat rooms was lower than 30% in all countries except Brazil and Spain where 41% and 38% respectively used chat rooms.

"Of all the popular Internet applications, email is the global activity of choice," said, Director, Nielsen//NetRatings director Peter Steyn.

"The key to email's popularity is two-fold: it's a cost-effective way to communicate across great distances, and it doesn't require the same high connection speeds as some of the other applications. In most countries in this report, a 56k modem or slower modem is the most popular tool to access the Internet."

In Hong Kong - the only Asian market surveyed - 58% of those who responded and had Internet access used either a cable modem or high-speed telephone connection to access the Internet. The study found that 38% of Hong Kong users had listened to Internet radio in the past six months, second behind Brazil (40%). The results showed 84% had used email, 28% had participated in a chat room, 26% used instant messaging and 34% had looked audio-visual content.

Globally, the number of people with access to the Internet via a home PC increased from 498.2 million in Q4 2001 to 531.3 million in the first quarter of 2002.

Auction action

2003-05-17T13:28:00.002+08:00

Hong Kong's growing fascination with cyber wheeling-and-dealing has given rise to a range of local Internet sites, where Sars-shy shoppers can buy anything from fish to face masks. Neil Western reports

Updated on May 17, 2003

GOING ONCE . . . a signed promotional poster of Joey Yung (bids start at $30); Going twice . . . a floral vase which 'might be antique' (open at $50); Gone . . . 'your lover' (upwards of $100,000). These are the types of goods and services you stumble on while surfing Hong Kong's thriving Internet auction sites. While many Americans are addicted to eBay, the growing fascination with cyber wheeling-and-dealing in Hong Kong is a lesser-known phenomenon. Yet sites such as Red-Dots, HK.Auctions and Go2HK are filling the local niche for new and second-hand clothes, cameras, books and, well . . . junk.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, which monitors Internet use, auction sites are pulling in up to twice the number of bargain-hunters than this time last year. Adding to the trend is an overall Internet shopping boom, since Sars forced Hongkongers off the street and into the safety of their homes.

In April, Hong Kong shopping sites were visited 1.1 million times by home Internet users, behind news and education sites with 1.5 million and 1.2 million visits respectively, but ahead of banking and travel sites, which attracted 600,000 and 271,000 visits. By far the most popular shopping site was Yahoo, with 430,000 visitors.

'April was the first 'full Sars month' and traffic increased dramatically as surfers explored sites they wouldn't normally visit,' says Peter Steyn, director of sales and marketing for Nielsen/NetRatings. 'There was a clear sign that people were surfing the Internet as a substitute for activities that would normally take place away from home.' The average time users spent online increased from 15 hours 12 minutes in February to 22 hours 39 minutes in April.

Yahoo's own figures suggest that since the Sars outbreak in March, many window-shoppers have made their first online purchases and existing customers are spending more. While site visits are up 20 per cent, transactions have soared 70 per cent and revenue 80 per cent, according to business development manager Arthur Chow. 'People are getting used to the online shopping experience,' says Chow. 'Whether Sars will permanently change shopping habits is too early to tell, but making their first buy is a step in the right direction.'

According to Neilsen/NetRatings, auction sites sell more than direct online retailers. In April, Yahoo subsidiary HK.Auctions was the biggest draw, having doubled its home-viewing figures to 130,000 since the same month last year. Next came Red-Dots (122,000, up 35 per cent), eBay (119,000, up 98 per cent) and Go2HK (105,000, up 47 per cent). Of these, all but eBay are locally based sites, where people meet and make deals.

'A lot of people in Hong Kong look for special items or good bargains,' says Chow. 'My guess is that they also have more spare time, considering the high unemployment rate. Also, many jobless people are setting up small merchandising businesses via auction sites, as happened in the US.

Alan Chow of Go2HK agrees. 'Most Hong Kong people are money-sensitive with sound business minds. They know how to earn money by buying at a low price and selling [on] at a higher price.'

The city's faddish consumers also want the latest mobile phone, or this season's fashion, which creates a large pool of second-hand goods, he says. The fact that Hong Kong is relatively small also means buyers and sellers can meet personally to trade goods rather than do so by mail, increasing the chances of a fair deal.

However, while Americans trade across cities thousands of miles apart, Hong Kong's unique cultural, political and economic structures mean people cannot trade easily with Taiwan or the mainland. 'Hong Kong is still a standalone city of about two million Internet users,' says Chow. 'Most auction players here only trade with others from Hong Kong.'

Although popular here, eBay has no Hong Kong-based site, as it does in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and on the mainland. 'In Hong Kong, our members range from individuals looking for rare items to small businesses trying to find a global audience for their products,' says Chris Donlay, eBay's senior director of communications. But Nielsen/NetRatings' Steyn says regular shopping sites may have a hard time sustaining this recent growth. Although niche products may do well (popular buys from overseas sites are books, CDs and DVDs unavailable locally), low-end local retailers, such as supermarkets, may struggle. Says Steyn: 'Convenience is not a reason in Hong Kong because everything is already convenient. Catalogue shopping is non-existent, so why go online? People like to go to stores and look at different products.'

Security can be a problem with Internet transactions. Yahoo and Go2HK say they have a strict privacy policy and secure systems, but a fear of being ripped off remains. 'We have to overcome the barriers that exist. People are wary of buying online with their credit cards,' says Steyn. 'Retailers and banks need to assure people that electronic transactions are safe by providing guarantees of maximum liability in case of overcharging, or a customer's card details being stolen. This is where the Sars-enforced trend to shop from home may help. Web site owners will be able to show customers doing their shopping online that their credit card has not been overcharged.'

The Sars-led Internet boom is a golden opportunity that probably won't happen again, says Steyn. 'Site owners have to make sure the online shopping experience works for people, so they will come back.'

Additional reporting by Hannah Lee

El SARS hace aumentar las compras online en Hong Kong

2003-05-17T08:29:00.001+08:00

Nielsen//Netratings sostiene que abril fue el primer mes desde febrero de 2001 en que el número de usuarios activos de Internet había mostrado un crecimiento de dos dígitos. El tráfico aumentó considerablemente desde el momento en que los internautas empezaron a entrar en sites que normalmente no visitarían, según ha afirmado el director de la empresa en Hong Kong, Peter Steyn. El promedio de páginas vistas en abril creció hasta un 44% comparado con febrero. Las visitas a webs sobre educación aumentaron hasta un 36% y el tráfico en páginas de entidades bancarias registró un crecimiento de un 27%.

Las websites o portales de venta de artículos aumentaron sus visitas un 15%, aunque las de reservas de entradas para cine y otros espectáculos, e incluso reservas de viajes, descendieron considerablemente. Parece ser que los habitantes de Hong Kong han recurrido a Internet para continuar con su vida normal con el fin de reducir al máximo sus salidas al exterior y evitar de esta manera cualquier tipo de contacto con el virus de neumonía atípica.

El SARS, síndrome agudo respiratorio severo, brotó desde la provincia de Cantón, en China, a finales del pasado año y se ha extendido rápidamente por 30 países afectando a más de 7.600 personas. La epidemia en Hong Kong comenzó el pasado mes de marzo. Nielsen/netratings no tiene datos que hagan referencia al uso de Internet en otras áreas asiáticas o países afectados por el SARS o el pánico a la enfermedad.

Cutbacks show that marketers fail to see Sars' silver lining

2003-05-17T07:04:00.001+08:00

by Peter Steyn, director of Nielsen//NetRatings Asia Media Asia 16-May-03

When I hear about marketers who are trimming online budgets and deferring online advertising, I'm convinced they have not seen one silver lining of the Sars cloud.

Last month, the net attracted the highest audience ever in Hong Kong.

And all those people spent a considerable amount of time replacing offline activities with online ones. Some likely satisfied their shopping fix on the net. As the war unfolded in Iraq, people in Hong Kong turned to the internet for up-to-the-minute information. Audiences of online news sites reached record highs as people looked for detailed coverage of the latest developments.

Then the mysterious virus hit contributing to a further boost in news site audiences and driving droves of people indoors and online. As many were afraid to go out wandering through shopping malls and other public places, they turned again to the internet for news, health information, shopping, banking, education, and communication. The internet kept them in close contact with - and at a safe distance from - friends, families and colleagues.

For the first time since Nielsen//NetRatings started measuring internet audiences in Hong Kong nearly three years ago, we saw a double-digit increase in a single month of the number of people going online. A look at online channels and their at-home audience for April (a month packed with Sars and war stories) with pre-Sars February shows news site audiences shot up phenomenally with several reaching an audience level previously unseen.

With the net's extensive content and rich media, people sat at their computers longer than ever before.

Online shopping - even online grocery shopping - has become more fashionable than hanging out at big malls or at Mongkok's labyrinth. While most of the shopping sites recorded a healthy increase in their audiences, parknshop.com bloomed like we have never witnessed before. Online banking took off as well. Audiences of the top two bank sites, in particular, shot up considerably in April compared with the pre-Sars days in February.

Not surprisingly, people by the thousands flocked to medical sites such as the Department of Health (info.gov.hk/dh) and the Hospital Authority (ha.org.hk) for virus stats and tips on how to protect themselves. The dedicated Sars website appropriately named www.sosick.org, became an overnight favourite for charts, messaging and its list of infected buildings. As many schools were closed, students found there was no way to escape their educational responsibilities. Most of the educational sites grew by double and triple digits in April, compared with pre-Sars February.

While people in Hong Kong were forced to discover the conveniences of online shopping and banking, it remains to be seen whether they will continue to rely on these conveniences once it is totally safe to head out freely.

Hongkong people shun crowds by going online

2003-05-16T22:15:00.002+08:00

May 16, 2003

SYDNEY - Online traffic to shopping, education, news, medical and banking sites soared in Hongkong as people sought safety at home from the Sars virus and steered clear of public places, according to a survey.

The number of active Internet users in Hongkong showed double-digit growth last month for the first time since February 2001, said Internet monitor Nielsen/NetRatings.

Traffic increased dramatically as surfers explored sites they would not normally visit, said the agency's marketing director for Hongkong, Mr Peter Steyn.

Nielsen/NetRatings is a partnership between market research firm AC Nielsen and Internet measurement agency NetRatings Inc NTRT.O.

It said in a statement that average page views rose 44 per cent last month, compared with February.

For clarity, the agency compared last month with February, before panic over the Sars virus gripped Hongkong.

Nielsen/NetRatings said traffic to news sites rose 40 per cent last month compared with February; visitors to education portals increased 36 per cent; and traffic to banking sites jumped 27 per cent.

The number of people visiting general shopping sites rose 15 per cent.

However, that category was distorted by a significant decline in traffic to movie and event booking sites, and travel portals.

Nielsen/NetRatings did not have survey data for Internet shopping in other Sars-affected countries in Asia. -- Reuters

Tráfego online em Hong Kong aumenta devido à SRA

2003-05-16T12:31:00.000+08:00

2003/05/16 16:25:47.
ZDNet, Portugal

O tráfego em sites dedicados a compras, educação, medicina ou gestão bancária aumentou em Hong Kong consideravelmente desde que começou a propagação do vírus da pneumonia atípica, segundo um estudo recente da Nielsen/netratings.

O estudo indica que o mês de Abril foi o primeiro desde Fevereiro de 2001 onde se verificou um aumento acima dos dois dígitos por parte dos utilizadores de Internet.

O tráfego online aumentou a partir do momento em que os cibernautas passaram a aceder a sites que anteriormente não visitavam, segundo explicou o director da empresa em Hong Kong, Peter Steyn.

Na base deste fenómeno estará o facto dos cidadãos de Hong Kong pretenderem continuar a sua vida, reduzindo ao máximo as suas saídas à rua para evitar qualquer tipo de contacto com o vírus.

SARS поспособствовал росту онлайновой торговли в Гонконге

2003-05-16T08:39:00.002+08:00

www.membrana.ru

Жители охваченного атипичной пневмонией Гонконга рванулись в Сеть: люди предпочитают не появляться в общественных местах, и потому трафик к медицинским, торгово-финансовым и образовательным сайтам подскочил на десятки процентов. Об этом сообщает агентство Nielsen/NetRatings.

По словам директора по маркетингу этого агентства Питера Стейна (Peter Steyn), особенно заметен прирост трафика к тем сайтам, которые обычно не пользуются особой популярностью — или просто малоизвестны.

В апреле, по сравнению с февралём, на 40% поднялась посещаемость новых сайтов, на 36% — посещаемость образовательных порталов и на 27% возрос трафик к финансовым и банковским сетевым ресурсам.

Интерес к онлайновым магазинам поднялся на 15%, при этом наблюдается резкий спад трафика к сайтам, через которые продаются билеты в театры и кино, а также — к онлайновым бюро путешествий.

И хотя Nielsen/NetRatings не анализировали данные по использованию Интернета в других регионах Азии, охваченных паникой по поводу SARS, логично предположить, что картина там схожая: запуганные эпидемией люди предпочитают не посещать общественных мест и делать покупки дома, благо Интернет предоставляет такую возможность.

Cidade Biz

2003-05-16T08:18:00.001+08:00

Pneumonia asiática turbina o uso da internet em Hong Kong", copyright Cidade Biz (www.cidadebiz.com.br), 15/05/03

"A procura por compras, educação, notícias e serviços bancários ou médicos na Internet disparou em Hong Kong nas últimas semanas, por causa da epidemia da Síndrome Respiratória Aguda Grave (Sars). Uma pesquisa mostrou que, temendo a contaminação, muita gente está preferindo ficar em casa e recorrer à rede mundial de computadores.

A consultoria Nielsen/NetRatings disse que em abril o número de usuários ativos da internet no território cresceu mais de 10% pela primeira vez desde fevereiro de 2001. O tráfego de informações também aumentou, porque as pessoas estão visitando sites que normalmente não consultariam, segundo o diretor de marketing da empresa, Peter Steyn.

A Sars é um tipo de pneumonia que surgiu no final do ano passado no sul da China e de lá se espalhou pelo mundo. A epidemia chegou a Hong Kong em março.

Segundo a Nielsen/NetRatings, a média de crescimento nos ‘page views’ em abril foi 44% maior do que em relação a fevereiro, quando a doença ainda não causava pânico em Hong Kong.

Nesse período, os sites de notícia tiveram 40% mais visitas. O movimento nos sites educativos aumentou 36%, e nos dos bancos, 27%.

O comércio eletrônico teve um aumento de 15% no seu movimento, número que poderia ser maior se na conta não entrassem categorias que foram abaladas pela epidemia - viagens ou reservas para cinema e espetáculos, por exemplo. A Nielsen/NetRatings não fez a pesquisa em outras regiões da Ásia atingidas pela Sars."

Hong Kong, la Sars porta i consumatori allo shopping online

2003-05-16T06:23:00.001+08:00

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Il traffico online su siti di shopping, educazione, notizie, banche e medicina è cresciuto ad Hong Kong, dove la gente preferisce stare al sicuro a casa per sfuggire al contagio del virus della Sindrome respiratoria acuta severa (Sars).

Lo rende noto un sondaggio di Nielsen/NetRatings, che spiega come aprile sia il primo mese dal febbraio 2001 in cui il numero dei navigatori sul Web nella città sono cresciuti di oltre il doppio.

Il traffico è aumentato incredibilimente mentre i surfer esplorano siti che normalmente non visiterebbero, spiega il direttore dell'agenzia di Hong Kong, Peter Steyn.

La Sars è emersa nel sud della Cina lo scorso anno prima di diffondersi in tutto il mondo.

Nielsen/NetRatings, una partnership tra la società di ricerche AC Nielsen e l'agenzia di controllo su Internet NetRatings Inc, ha spiegato in un comunicato inviato a Reuters a Sydney oggi che le page views in aprile sono salite del 44% rispetto a febbraio.

Per chiarezza, l'agenzia ha confrontato aprile con febbraio, prima del panico dovuto alla Sars che ha bloccato Hong Kong. La Sindrome ha ucciso quasi 600 persone in tutto il mondo ed ha infettato oltre 7.600 persone in 30 paesi.

Neilsen/NetRatings ha detto che il traffico nei siti di notizie è salito del 40% ad aprile confrontato con febbraio, che i visitatori per i portali di scienza e formazione sono aumentati del 36% e quelli delle banche del 27%.

SARS a boost for online shopping

2003-05-15T22:23:00.001+08:00

Reuters

May 15, 2003, 2:03 PM PT

Online traffic to shopping, education, news, medical and banking sites soared in Hong Kong as people sought safety at home from the SARS virus and steered clear of public places, according to a survey.

Internet monitor Nielsen/NetRatings said April was the first month since February 2001 that the number of active Internet users in the city showed double-digit growth. Traffic increased dramatically as surfers explored sites they wouldn't normally visit, said the agency's marketing director for Hong Kong, Peter Steyn.

SARS turns HK consumers to online shopping

2003-05-15T20:17:00.001+08:00

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Online traffic to shopping, education, news, medical and banking sites soared in Hong Kong as people sought safety at home from the SARS virus and steered clear of public places, according to a survey.

Internet monitor Nielsen/NetRatings said April was the first month since February 2001 that the number of active Internet users in the city showed double-digit growth.

Traffic increased dramatically as surfers explored sites they wouldn't normally visit, said the agency's marketing director for Hong Kong, Peter Steyn.

SARS first surfaced in southern China late last year before spreading around the world. The epidemic took off in Hong Kong in March.

Nielsen/NetRatings, a partnership between market research firm AC Nielsen and Internet measurement agency NetRatings Inc., said in a statement sent to Reuters in Sydney on Thursday that average page views in April rose 44 percent compared with February.

For clarity, the agency compared April with February, before panic over severe acute respiratory syndrome gripped Hong Kong. SARS has killed almost 600 worldwide and infected more than 7,600 in 30 countries since originating in southern China.

Nielsen/NetRatings said traffic to news sites rose 40 percent in April compared with February, visitors to education portals increased 36 percent and traffic to banking sites jumped 27 percent.

The number of people visiting general shopping sites rose 15 percent, but that category was distorted by a significant decline in traffic to movie and event booking sites, and travel portals.

Nielsen/NetRatings did not have survey data for Internet use in other areas of Asia hit by SARS or panicked by the disease.

SARS turns HK consumers to online shopping - survey

2003-05-15T11:51:00.002+08:00

Last Updated: 2003-05-15 10:00:22 -0400 (Reuters Health)

Internet monitor Nielsen/NetRatings said April was the first month since February 2001 that the number of active Internet users in the city showed double-digit growth.

Traffic increased dramatically as surfers explored sites they wouldn't normally visit, said the agency's marketing director for Hong Kong, Peter Steyn.

SARS first surfaced in southern China late last year before spreading around the world. The epidemic took off in Hong Kong in March.

Nielsen/NetRatings said traffic to news sites rose 40 percent in April compared with February, visitors to education portals increased 36 percent and traffic to banking sites jumped 27 percent.

The number of people visiting general shopping sites rose 15 percent, but that category was distorted by a significant decline in traffic to movie and event booking sites, and travel portals.

Nielsen/NetRatings did not have survey data for Internet use in other areas of Asia hit by SARS or panicked by the disease.

Hong Kong's shoppers flee to online refuge

2003-05-06T06:26:00.001+08:00

By Maija Pesola in London and Justine Lau in Hong Kong, FT.com site

Published: May 05, 2003

Like many Hong Kong companies, cosmetics seller Sa Sa International Holding had abandoned the idea that online sales would ever be a big part of its business.

Sa Sa's online sales in the second half of March rose 25 per cent compared with the first half of the month and have continued to increase in April.

Web surfers have been snapping up surgical masks, hand moisturiser (because all of that hand washing dries out the skin), thermometers and anti-acne products to combat oily skin from mask wearing.

This is a marked turnaround from the recent past, according to Peter Steyn, director of Nielsen Net/Ratings Hong Kong, which tracks online activity in the region.

"People in Hong Kong love to go shopping - it is part of the culture. But they love to feel and touch the things they are buying," says Steyn.

In the US, for example, an estimated 62 per cent of internet users had purchased products online as of October last year, compared with only 18 per cent in Hong Kong.

People are also spending more cash when they get to these sites. Comparing the second week in April to the second week in March, for example, the volume of transactions and revenues on Yahoo's shopping sites rose 120 per cent, said Mr Chow.

Hot selling items include groceries and bleach - used to sterilise homes to help stop the disease spreading. Park N Shop, Hong Kong's largest supermarket chain, is reporting a 30-35 per cent rise in online sales since March.

As people avoid crowded cinemas and concerts, they are also buying more CDs and DVDs over the internet. The three-week closure of Hong Kong schools, also led to an increase in purchases of video games and visits to games sites.

Not all e-commerce sites have benefited. The flip side of increased DVD sales is a 34 per cent decrease in traffic at cinema.com.hk, the site for booking cinema tickets online.

But overall, e-tailers are hopeful that these exceptional times will create a lasting shift in Hong Kong's consumer behaviour.

"This is acting as a catalyst, pushing people who have not tried before to shop online for the first time," said Mr Chow. "Maybe, if they are satisfied with the service, they will continue."

An increase in online transactions is a blessing in disguise for Asia

2003-05-01T20:03:00.001+08:00

Thursday, May 1, 2003. By RAYMOND MA

Some bankers foresee a silver lining from the Sars outbreak in the form of cost savings. They predict that stay-at-home customers will prefer online transactions rather than return to branches after the crisis ends.

"I think we can call it a blessing in disguise, especially for banking sites," said Peter Steyn, the marketing and sales director for Nielsen/NetRatings.

HSBC chief David Eldon had said that online transaction volumes for the bank and its subsidiary Hang Seng Bank had risen 40 per cent since the Sars outbreak began.

Bank of East Asia said that consumer banking transactions rose 22 per cent last month, peaking at 90,000 a day during the worst of the outbreak and dropping to about 80,000 since.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) said online banking usage had risen 60 per cent in March, compared with the same period last year, but suggested this could be due to promotional efforts.

Bankers and analysts said the surge in online banking could also lead to a push in the banks' evolution towards wealth management services in branches, which have also seen much rationalisation in recent years.

Vincent Hui, the head of the e-distribution department at Bank of East Asia, said: "It's not a good way to grow the business, but this has definitely helped out.

"This will definitely act as a push, we hope, [towards wealth management]."

UBS Warburg banking analyst Tracy Yu said: "Whether it will lead to a cutback in branches or staff forces . . . it will be decided by management.

"[Banks] can also redeploy resources into the development of some other products like wealth management."

Internet banking cuts costs significantly.

After the initial capital investment in technology, services provided through Web browsers are relatively cheap compared with labour intensive counter-based services.

This is good news for Hong Kong's lenders who have been searching for ways to cut costs as the operating environment for banks has worsened.

Bank of East Asia said Internet banking was 15 to 20 times cheaper than comparable services done over-the-counter.

Paul To Kei-to, Hang Seng Bank head of information technology and e-banking, said in the short term, variable costs savings from each transaction were outweighed by the heavy upfront investment.

But he said that the more people who shifted their banking online, "the better use we could have on our fixed investment".

Bankers and industry experts agree that once online, bank customers are likely to stick with their keyboards instead of returning to the branches in force.

Mr Hui said: "The most difficult thing for us is to get them to try it out for the first time.

"After that first time, they usually won't go back to more traditional methods."

Mr Steyn agreed that customers were not likely to return to branches after learning to bank online.

"I would think that this increase [in online banking] due to Sars is likely to stay." he said.

"Maybe it won't stay at as high a level as it is now, but I think we are going to see a much higher reach of online banking in the next few months."

Online Job Seekers Spread Their Net Wider

2003-03-21T08:26:00.001+08:00

The number of job seekers in Hong Kong using the Internet to seek employment has jumped 13.1% over the past 12 months, according to latest information from Nielsen//NetRating.

"The online search for a new job continues apace in Hong Kong, where the jobless rate remains at a high of more than 7% said Peter Steyn the company's sales and marketing director for Hong Kong.

A total of 308,800 surfers visited online job search sites in February 2003, compared with 267, 700 a year ago - an increase of 15.4% in the audience to those sites. This compares to a year-on-year increase in the total number of active Internet users in February of only 6.4%.

"This 15% year-on-year growth to the online job search sites did not come solely from new users coming online, but rather existing online users heading increasingly to job search sites in their quest for their next career move", added Steyn.

While Hong Kong's Internet users are still slightly more skewed towards men (54.5%), women are taking the lead in the online job search stakes. Over half (53%) of online job searchers are women, up from 47% a year ago and suggesting that they have perhaps been hardest hit by the local downturn.

The top ranking online job search sites in February 2003 were jobs.gov.hk, jobsdb.com with South China Morning Post's classfiedpost.com coming in third. In fact, JobsDB.com, Asia Pacific's largest interactive recruitment network, despite a slowdown in the hiring market over the past six months, is still providing 40,000 jobs to its job seeker members and visitors across the region.

Job seekers increasingly turn to the Net, says poll

2003-03-12T22:15:00.001+08:00

Alex Lo

Increasing numbers of job seekers are using the Internet to look for work as the unemployment rate remains above 7 per cent, a survey has found.

About 308,000 people visited five of Hong Kong's most popular job search sites last month, up 14 per cent on February last year. The official jobless rate is 7.2 per cent.

Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director of Nielsen/NetRatings, a company that specialises in research and carried out the survey, said: 'This growth to the online job search sites did not come solely from new users coming online, but rather existing users heading increasingly to the sites in their quest for their next career move.

'The Web sites are more convenient because you can visit them at home, so more people prefer them over newspapers.'

The survey counted the number of visitors so that even if a person hit a Web page several times in February, he or she would be counted just once.

The survey's top site is the government's jobs.gov.hk, which was visited by 114,800 job seekers, followed by jobsdb.com (92,800 visitors), the South China Morning Post's classifiedpost.com (72,500), jump.mingpao.com (66,200) and pandacareer.com (56,700).

Mr Steyn said the online sites covered jobs in the middle- and lower-salary range, while the more traditional headhunters catered to the top jobs.

A spokesman for the Labour Department, which maintains jobs.gov.hk, said it had a daily average of over 800,000 hits.

Quotable Quotes - Asia Inc. Magazine

2003-01-31T22:06:00.000+08:00

January 2003

"Police arrested two hunters on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido for allegedly shooting three prized racehorses they mistook for wild deer"

Associated Press

"Mobile phones contain gold, silver, copper, palladium, platinum and other precious metals"

International Herald Tribune

"We have many alternatives. Our students can study in New Zealand, Australia, China, Ukraine and even Russia"

Malaysia's deputy education minister Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin on US visa problems

"The world is beginning to act like America's sullen teenager, refusing to obey orders"

Financial Times columnist James Carroll

"What the world is interested in today is quick money, money that comes from speculation and manipulation- overnight money. The greedy have taken over the economy of the world"

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad

"China moves towards one-party pluralism"

Headline in Singapore's Straits Times

"You look at the economic scales- it's going to be an elephant on one side and a mouse on the other"

Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew on the emergence of China as an industrial colossus

"The prevailing wisdom has been that small companies are fast, entrepreneurial, responsive and effective. Large companies are slow, bureaucratic, unresponsive and ineffective. This is sheer nonsense."

IBM Chairman
Louis Gerstner

"Australia looks set to gain the dubious honour of being the 'fattest' country in the world, beating the United States"

Singapore's Straits Times

"A broad coalition of US religious groups is preparing a grass-roots campaign linking fuel efficiency to morality, with some ads asking: 'What Would Jesus Drive?'"

Danny Hakim, New York Times

"It is not illegal to wear an Osama bin Laden mask"

Hong Kong police spokesman

"It was a fateful mistake for Bush to have declared his war a 'war against terrorism'. That made it a war that can't be won"

Columnist William Pfaff, International Herald Tribune

"We will enrol outstanding people from all strata of society because they work for the cause of the party"

Chinese spokesman on admitting businessmen into the communist party

"People in Hong Kong and Singapore go online to browse, compare prices and functions. Then they hop across the street and buy in a shop"

Peter Steyn, Nielsen/ Net-Ratings director, Hong Kong

"Having a clear idea of its destination would enable ASEAN to proceed more rapidly and smoothly on the path of economic integration"

ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino

Online travel agency shifts sales strategy

2003-01-17T22:18:00.001+08:00

SANDY LI

In a major change of strategy, Hutchison-Priceline (Travel) will offer published-price travel products, a departure from its loss-making United States counterpart's name-your-own-price model.

The Li Ka-shing controlled online ticketing agency announced the change just two days after rival Zuji.com said it was aimed at capturing 30 per cent of the Asia-Pacific Internet market within three years.

Hutchison-Priceline chief executive Alfredo Gangotena said the online ticketing agency would introduce a new range of discounted, published-price products before the Lunar New Year, starting with hotel bookings and car rental.

"We will expand the products to air tickets and package tours later," he said.

AC Nielsen director Peter Steyn said Priceline's new strategy was partly due to the fact many consumers in Asia were still reluctant to try the online bidding model.

"Priceline recognised that you can't please everybody with the same product offering, so it makes perfect sense to broaden their choices by adding discounted published-price travel products to complement their name-your-own-price products," Mr Steyn said.

Hutchison-Priceline has been advertising the introduction of the United States "name-your-own-price" concept into Asia.

It claims the travel site can help customers save up to 30 per cent from conventional channels.

The online ticketing agency, a 65-35 per cent joint venture between Hutchison Whampoa and Priceline.com, was launched in Hong Kong in April last year.

Mr Gangotena said that with the addition of the new published products, customers would be presented with two options that both deliver discounts.

"In peak holiday periods, when prices are higher and availability limited, customers can still name their own price through Priceline," he said.

"Yet if there are no seats or rooms available for specific dates or itineraries, customers can now go straight to our retail options and be confident of getting the best market prices available."

Mr Steyn said online spending in Hong Kong was still low compared with countries such as the US, Europe and Australia where transactions were driven mainly by convenience.

In Hong Kong, shops and travel agencies were a short walk or drive away from most people's homes, he said.

"To increase online shopping in Hong Kong, shoppers need incentives such as lower prices and a wider online product selection than what is available in stores, a high level of online security, and superb service and return policies," Mr Steyn said.

Online booking in Hong Kong improving overall

2002-12-06T22:38:00.001+08:00

Friday, December 6, 2002
CAROLYN ONG

The Li Ka-shing-backed travel services portal Priceline.com.hk has seen the number of customers visiting its Web site decline but the SAR's online booking industry is registering expanding consumer interest, according to an ACNielsen Netratings report.

The heavily promoted "name your own price" service that allows customers to enter bids for a wide range of travel services is battling an online travel sector which continues to register strong growth.

Priceline.com.hk was ranked fifth most popular Internet travel site in Hong Kong with 37,000 visits. Cathay Pacific's Web site was ranked top in the same report with 73,300 unique visitors, up from 26,700 for the same month a year ago.

Hutchison-Priceline marketing manager Ronica Wang defended the firm's market position arguing that most users accessed the site while at work, data not captured in the survey.

"A majority of our users are professionals and they most likely do most of their Web browsing at work," she said.

Travel service sites as a whole chalked up 334,000 customer visits in October, a 61 per cent increase from 207,800 unique visitors for the same period a year ago.

Nielsen//Netratings measures Internet traffic by tracking a permanent panel of at-home users.

Counting the number of visitors to a site is seen as the most accepted measurement of Web traffic rather than page views or hits.

Peter Steyn, a director at Nielsen//Netratings said the firm did not capture at-work surfing. Traffic to online travel sites, including Cathaypacific.com and hk.travel.yahoo.com were rising month-on-month.

E-tailers are primed for happier holidays

2002-11-26T07:07:00.001+08:00

By Nick Selby

Published: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2002

From the U.S. bellwether Amazon.com to the German catalog retailer Neckermann.de to HK.Yahoo.com in Hong Kong, online shops around the world are hoping for a holiday season of double-digit sales growth — a small beacon of light amid stock downturns, flagging tech spending and stagnant corporate sales.

Leading the charge is Europe, where some forecasts even call for triple-digit increases over last year.

"We have seen a growth rate this year in excess of 100 percent," said Jon Prideaux, executive vice president of Virtual Visa Europe. "A given retailer might not see precisely that, but we've seen monthly sales increases of 18.5 percent, so a double or more increase over last year is very likely."

European e-tailers are gaining over the pioneering Americans because more consumers who are relatively new to the Internet are in Europe, said Japp Favier, research director at Forrester Research Inc.'s European operations. The United States has fewer newcomers, so growth is somewhat flatter this year.

The German e-tailer KarstadtQuelle, the online arm of the Karstadt department store and Quelle appliances, says 30 percent of its online sales this year — which should come in at €1.2 billion ($1.2 billion), a 70 percent increase — are coming from first-time customers.

"The average time between first plugging in the computer and buying something is 18 months, and the first purchase is usually a CD or book," Favier said.

Overall, Forrester expects that European online retail sales this holiday season will rise to €7.6 billion from about €4 billion, bringing the total for the year to €30 billion, up from €15.5 billion.

In Asia, the situation is more fragmented. Cultural nuances and logistical barriers do not always turn new Internet recruits into online shoppers.

For example, in Hong Kong and Singapore, Internet and broadband penetration levels are among the world's highest, but online sales lag significantly behind Europe's and North America's. In China, consumers want to actually touch the merchandise to make sure it works before they buy, analysts say. But e-commerce is still gaining in markets like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. While there is little religious significance to Christmas in much of Asia, the idea of a "holiday season" may be catching on.

"The fourth quarter is increasingly becoming a shopping season in Asia-Pacific," Lane Leskela, a research director for Gartner Inc., said in a recent report. "Christmas has penetrated the local culture of many non-Christian societies as a gift-giving celebration."

Hong Kong's top shopping destinations are the Yahoo shopping and auction sites. Quinnie Ng at Yahoo Hong Kong said the sites had seen a 160 percent rise in total customers this year. But in actual numbers, she said, the base is small.

Peter Steyn, Nielsen/NetRatings director in Hong Kong, said: "People in Hong Kong and Singapore go online to browse, compare prices and functions. Then they hop across the street and buy in a shop."

In Europe, retailers have matured somewhat on the Internet over the past several years, and consumers have gotten used to them.

"People are finding it more convenient to buy online," said Brian Morris, who heads e-business for MasterCard Europe. "And with the move to the euro, it's become easier to do comparison shopping with Web sites in different countries."

Even in markets where credit cards are often spurned as a payment method — such as Germany, Italy, Japan and China — e-tailers are getting creative and consumers are responding. Amazon will send bills by mail in Germany and accept cash on delivery in Japan. Many Japanese customers buy online and have the goods sent to a 7-Eleven outlet, where they pay with cash.

"Some people actually bring cash to the office," said Fritz Demopoulos, founder and former chief executive of Shawei.com and now senior consultant to NetEase.com in Beijing.

"We have seven different ways you can make payment, like bank wire transfers, debit cards, prepaid cards."

Internet buying is still a small fraction of overall retail sales. And online sales are seldom net gains — they are sales that have moved from the store cash register to the personal computer. But purchases made online generally cost the retailer less to process than face-to-face sales. Even in struggling retail sectors, such as consumer PCs, this shift has been notable.

"Overall, sales have stagnated," said Massimiliano Bancora, Web and marketing director for CHL, one of Italy's largest computer retailers, "but sales initiated online have increased by 20 percent this year."

Regis Brinster, Geneva-based interactive marketing manager for Iomega International, a computer-storage maker, said: "We launched online sales two years ago, and they have grown to about 1 percent of our total European sales. To achieve this level of sales so quickly on a supplementary channel, without investing in a call center, makes this really outstanding."

To more effectively balance loads and keep peak drain on their systems to a minimum, European retailers have encouraged early shopping. Amazon's sites, Iomega International, British retailers like Argos, and many others offer incentives such as free shipping for orders placed before early December.

"If you're going to compete with the high street experience, you need higher levels of customer service," said Ian Loughran, managing director of Blackstar.co.uk, a Belfast-based video retailer.

Blackstar meets with Royal Mail representatives to plan for peak delivery periods such as holidays or during the release of hot movies.

That everything works is especially important to first-time buyers. If things do not go as planned, the next sale will be much slower in coming.

On the other hand, too much customer service can be a hindrance, and Internet stores can answer that need, too.

"I don't need sales help to buy a movie," said Lee Evans, a Berlin-based travel consultant.

"On Amazon, I type in the movie name and buy it. I don't have to fight the throngs. Then I can go downtown, stand in the Christmas markets, drink the mulled wine and look at the lights with my family.

Internet shopping surges in popularity in Hong Kong

2002-11-09T22:52:00.001+08:00

Malaysia

Saturday, November 09, 2002

HONG KONG: Internet shopping in Hong Kong has surged in popularity in the past year but most people appear to be only window-shopping, a survey published Friday found.

The most popular shopping sites, such as Yahoo and Amazon, have seen a 47% rise in visits by Hong Kong people, according to Internet market research company Nielsen/NetRatings.

A total of 823,000 Hong Kong people visited the top 100 shopping sites this year compared with 562,000 this year, researchers found.

The number of people using the Internet in the territory has risen from 1.7 million to 2.1 million over the same period.

Nielsen/NetRatings director Peter Steyn told Friday's South China Morning Post that despite the rise in visits to shopping sites, Hong Kong people were using the Internet to compare products and prices.

Hong Kong consumers are wary about spending money online, thinking the technology unsafe, and prefer to browse the Internet for price comparisons before buying in shops. - dpa

Number of shoppers using the Internet surges by 47 per cent

2002-11-08T22:40:00.001+08:00

Friday November 8 2002

Susan Schwartz

Hong Kong people appear to be turning away from shopping centres in favour of the Internet, with the number of armchair consumers logging on to the most popular sites up by 47 per cent over the past year, according to a survey released yesterday.

The Nielsen/NetRatings figures show audience levels for the top 100 shopping sites increased from 562,000 last year to 823,000 this year. This compares with a 24 per cent increase in overall Internet use from 1.7 million to 2.1 million during the same period.

The company's Hong Kong director, Peter Steyn, said consumers were turning to the Internet to compare products and prices.

'In September 2001, 33 per cent of Internet users visited a shopping site,' Mr Steyn said. 'This September, 39 per cent visited a shopping site - a clear indicator increasing numbers of Hong Kong surfers are enjoying the convenience of online shopping.'

The most popular destinations were the Yahoo! shopping and auction sites, which saw their audiences increase 132 per cent year on year. 'The Yahoo! shopping and auction sites continue to lead the field and are now well ahead of the second-ranked Amazon,' said Mr Steyn.

'For Yahoo! high growth came from hk.auctions.yahoo.com, now the most popular auction site among at-home Internet users.'

Among the top 20 shopping domains this September, those offering general merchandise remained the most popular, followed by sites offering auctions, computer products, travel and - to a lesser extent - music, cinema bookings, beauty products, books and groceries.

'The type of products people are looking for online has not changed much over the last year,' Mr Steyn said.

'Sites with a variety of products, and auctions in particular, are becoming increasingly popular.' Fifty-nine per cent of online shoppers are men and 54 per cent of customers are in the 18 to 34 age group. According to last month's figures, 18 per cent of Internet users aged above 16 had made a purchase online.

Meanwhile, the use of online government services has increased almost 20 per cent over the past year, according to a Taylor Nelson Sofres study released yesterday. The number of people who consider such sites unsafe to use decreased by three per cent from last year to 52 per cent.

The most frequent users are people seeking information (33 per cent), high-income groups (65 per cent), people with a university education (78 per cent) and those aged under 25 (63 per cent).

susan.schwartz@scmp.co

Search for jobs drives surge in gov.hk hits

2002-10-05T22:56:00.001+08:00

Saturday, October 5, 2002
SIDNEY LUK

The number of people visiting Hong Kong government Web sites has increased by 46 per cent from 507,069 last year to 738,486 this year, a survey has found.

According to a study conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong, the domain of info.gov.hk was the most popular government site with 407,592 unique visitors in August, an increase from 316,307 last year.

Peter Steyn, sales and marketing director of Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong, said the site contained comprehensive information about government services and news which attracted a big following in the 18-34 age group.

The site lcsd.gov.hk - offering information on leisure and cultural services, museums, performing arts, recreation and sports - ranked second with an audience of 180,605. The domain of hkpl.gov.

hk came third with 167,060 visitors, an increase of 28.6 per cent from 129,827 last year.

"The Hong Kong public libraries site, hkpl.gov.hk, is an increasingly popular site in Hong Kong and offers the convenience of online library browsing, as well as reserving and renewing of library books," Mr Steyn said.

Weather sites hko.gov.hk and weather.gov.hk attracted an unduplicated combined audience of 190,000 in August. Mr Steyn said this was because the month was stormy compared with a calm August in 2001.

"The audience of the Hong Kong Observatory site is highly dependent on deteriorating weather conditions and approaching cyclones. The August 2002 unique audience was almost five times as high as August 2001 as no less than seven tropical cyclones occurred over the western North Pacific and South China Sea this past August. In comparison, August 2001 was warmer and drier than usual and the No 1 signal was hoisted only once when Tropical Storm Fitow passed by."

Amid the high unemployment rate in Hong Kong, it was found the number of Internet surfers of job-hunting and training site jobs.gov.hk had increased dramatically from August last year, from 55,031 to 140,472.

"Jobs.gov.hk now ranks No 1 in the overall job-search category in Hong Kong, up from No 3 a year ago. While audiences to the site grew by 154 per cent, page views on the site more than tripled, to make it the top-ranking gov.hk site based on page views. Its August 2002 audience is slightly lower than its all-time high audience in May, June and July 2002," Mr Steyn said.

The jobless rate in Hong Kong has been rising since the October to December period in 2000, from 4.4 per cent to 7.6 per cent in June-August this year.

The analyst expects further growth of gov.hk sites, provided the government expands its online marketing to increase awareness of the information available.

"Internet users are finding the government sites very informative, whether it is for an update on the weather, searching for a new job, planning a day or night out, renewing library books, or looking at any information on the wide range of government services," he said.

E-government shows steady gains in Hong Kong

2002-10-03T20:12:00.000+08:00

The general Hong Kong government information at info.gov.hk made it the top-ranking domain within the gov.hk property, recording a total of 407,592 unique visitors in August. The site contains comprehensive information about the Hong Kong SAR, including government services and news, and attracts a heavy 18 to 34 year old following.

"The second and third ranked -- lcsd.gov.hk and hkpl.gov.hk -- have consistently recorded increases in audience numbers since they were launched in Hong Kong. Lcsd.gov.hk provides information on leisure and cultural services, museums, performing arts, recreation and sports. Hkpl.gov.hk, the Hong Kong public libraries site, is an increasingly popular site in Hong Kong and offers the convenience of online library browsing, as well as reserving and renewing of library books," noted Steyn.

The fourth ranked hko.gov.hk and seventh ranked weather.gov.hk, both directing to the Hong Kong Observatory site, had a combined unique audience (unduplicated) of 190,000, which would place them at rank number two. The site carries comprehensive information about the current weather and forecasts, up-to-date tracking of cyclones, and a wealth of statistics and weather related information and news.

The fifth ranking domain, jobs.gov.hk, had the second highest year on year growth among the top 10 gov.hk domains, with unemployment in Hong Kong currently sitting well above seven per cent.

"Jobs.gov.hk now ranks number one in the overall job search category in Hong Kong, up from number three a year ago. While audiences to the site grew by 154 percent, page views on the site more than tripled, to make it the top ranking gov.hk site based on page views. Its August 2002 audience is slightly lower than its all-time high audience in May, June, and July 2002," added Steyn.

Web usage points to the medium's growth potential

2002-09-07T06:58:00.001+08:00

by PETER STEYN, director of Nielsen//NetRatings Media Asia 06-Sep-02

While many advertisers remain reluctant to unlock the potential of the internet to reach their target audiences, I am still encouraged.

Looking at the worldwide growth and usage of the internet, its potential for reaching target audiences online, there's no question in my mind that the internet, although still in its infancy, has already had a profound impact on the daily lives of millions of people.

Just take a look at Hong Kong, which has among the highest internet penetration and usage rates in the world (compared with 30 countries which in total account for more than 95 per cent of the global internet population).

Back in September 2000, Hong Kong had only 3.35 million people with internet access at home. The latest figures released for July 2002, showed that 4.36 million people now have access - a 30 per cent increase. An even higher growth rate is evident when looking at the actual number of people who used the internet during July 2002 versus September 2000 - a 36 per cent increase.

Hong Kong also has among the world's highest broadband penetration, which, combined with the lifestyles of its residents, results in some awesome internet usage figures. Last month, the average time spent online by surfers at home was a whopping 16 hours, compared with just over 10 hours in September 2000. In comparison, the current global average for time spent online per month is slightly less than 10 hours per person. The average number of pages viewed by Hong Kong internet users last month was 1,414 per person, up 54 per cent compared with September 2000.

What is even more revealing is when we look at the online behaviour of the Hong Kong youth. The 12-17 year old internet user spent on average almost 32 hours per person last month, 26 hours among 18-20 year olds, and 22 hours among the 21-24 year old group. Even though I can't say that I have noticed fewer teens at shopping malls over the weekend, the amount of time they spend on the internet must surely be eating into their mall hangout time.

Now, thanks to technology, we can very accurately measure their actual behaviour - where they go online, where they came from, how long they spend at each site, their interaction with the site, and more - unquestionably a wealth of very powerful data not available for traditional media.

Lord Leverhulme was famously quoted complaining that he knew half his advertising was wasted - the only problem was that he didn't know which half. The ease of targeting online audiences and the speed at which accurate data is available to allow marketers to revise their online strategies, helps us to quickly understand exactly which half of our advertising budget is being wasted, long before we have wasted all 50 per cent.

As the internet becomes even more mainstream in Hong Kong, advertisers will have to wake up to this fact.

Instant Reply Needed? Try Instant Messaging

2002-08-28T07:14:00.000+08:00

August 27, 2002
By Seng Li Peng

Email has remained the undisputed killer application on the Internet, serving as the faster and cheaper alternative to snail mails as well as a preferred tool to phone calls. However, emails sometimes sit unread or are not delivered because the intended recipient's mailbox is full - among other reasons.

Living in a world where we often need responses instantly, such inconveniences can be frustrating. This is where instant messaging (IM) can become a wonderful savior.

If all the important parties we want to be in constant contact are within the same IM community, instead of guessing, we can immediately check who's online and offline. IM also helps eliminates expensive phone bills, says Peter Steyn, director of Nielsen/NetRatings. In addition, "IM allows users to instantaneously transfer over files (documents and pictures) without file size limitations," says Rose Leng, regional marketing director, MSN Asia.

Lucrative Business
The concept of real-time IM was pioneered by four 20-something Israeli avid-computer users in 1996 who created a product called ICQ (I Seek You) under their company, Mirabilis Ltd.

The brilliant idea was created after the founders observed that while millions of people were connected to one huge worldwide network -- the Internet -- they were not interconnected with one another, says spokesperson Joshua Danson. Hence, ICQ became the link for willing users.

Seeing how lucrative ICQ became, AOL decided to acquire it for more than US$280 million in 1998. That very same year, Yahoo launched its own version of IM, and in 1999, Microsoft's MSN also followed suit.

Although AOL has its own IM product, "there is a very little overlap (less than seven percent) between the AOL and ICQ products," says Danson.

According to a study by Nielsen/NetRatings, AOL Instant Messenger took the top spot as the No. 1. IM application, attracting more than 22 million unique users, or 21 percent of the total surfing population at home in the US in May this year. MSN Messenger drew nearly 15.7 million Internet users, Yahoo! Messenger attracted 12.4 million and ICQ had nearly 4.4 million during the same month. Hence, while AOL is predominantly popular with American users, ICQ appeals to the international users.

So popular is its IM with worldwide users that ICQ will be launching a new product called ICQ Lite for them.

"This is for users who want the basic features of ICQ in a quick and easy-to-use package. ICQ Lite will therefore provide a simple, streamlined interface for IM with convenient access to ICQ's most popular features, such as: file transfer, SMS, multilingual messaging, and the ability to search for users via their interests using ICQ's popular keyword search functionality," says Danson.

Today, ICQ (which gains a new registration every minute or more than 100,000 new registrants daily) has more than 135 million registered users worldwide. About 22 percent of these users are in Asia including China, its biggest market, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

For MSN, taking into account just six countries in Asia, it has already garnered an impressive eight million unique users as of July, 2002.

Says Leng: "In our efforts to increase the Messenger user base, it's not only important to convince a new user to come onto Messenger, we also need to get all his friends (buddies) to use the service as well. So the success of marketing Messenger relies heavily on viral marketing."

Between December 2001 and July 2002, MSN saw its unique users in China jumped 105 percent, but Korea remains its biggest market today.

"In Korea, we have run a couple of successful MSN Messenger campaigns targeting heavy IM users such as university students and people who like using 'emoticons'. We have the most number of emoticons which users just love," Leng adds.

In case some are thinking that IM is a 'kids' tool, think again. According to Gartner, by 2004, 60 percent of real-time communication, including voice, text or call-and-response, will be driven by IM technology. It has also predicted that by 2003, 70 percent of enterprise employees will be using IM services at the office.

For corporations who are concerned that their employees may be spending too much time chatting about everything but work matters via IM, take this advice: "We've seen in the past the same concerns about the personal use of the phone, email, or Internet in the corporate environment. Like any of these tools, IM can be abused. But with proper training, the productivity enhancements of IM outweigh these concerns," says Michael Becker, Director Product Marketing, Ecrio Inc., a company that provides instant communication application and infrastructure software.

Breaking Down The Walls
"Currently, all the IM providers each have their own niche communities and are isolated walled gardens. A critical success factor for the future of any IM service will be the interoperability between services and the extension of them to the wireless networks," says Becker.

"The other thing that IM providers need to do is to extend IM usage beyond the PC experience to the wireless world, including SMS, WAP, and MMS," he adds. "Historically, IM has been a PC-to-PC experience, but it is not a far stretch to bring it to the wireless world. SMS has been wildly successful, and it is not all that different from IM. The key difference between the SMS and IM is presence and availability management."

"With SMS, we assume that a user's mobile phone is switched on and that the user is available, but this might not be the case. We have no presence control. While with IM, the user actually has control over their presence. They can consciously inform people when they are available, in a meeting, or hide themselves from one or more users. This control dramatically improves the user experience and enhances next-generation messaging services," Becker elaborates.

IM providers are not slow in realizing this.

Says Danson: "We believe that demand for new services including mobile applications will continue to grow, a reason why we have remained strongly committed to short message service (SMS) as well as ICQ handheld applications.

While MSN currently only allows its email users to receive and send mails to and from their mobile phones, it will be launching its Mobile Messenger in Asia later this year. "This new service will combine the best of both worlds and you can see your buddies' availability over the phone", says Leng.

NetRatings to acquire research firm NetValue

2002-08-10T06:57:00.000+08:00

Media Asia 09-Aug-02

NetRatings will acquire NetValue, an internet audience behaviour measurement service operating in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. Peter Steyn, director of sales and marketing at Nielsen//NetRatings, said: "We will fully integrate products, services of the companies, and will look at duplication and markets for better cost-efficiencies."

ACNielsen unit buys NetValue

2002-08-07T22:47:00.001+08:00

Wednesday, August 7, 2002
ANH-THU PHAN

Nielsen//NetRatings will acquire rival NetValue for 18 million euros (about HK$140 million) in cash and stock, signalling another demise in the competitive Internet audience measurement market.

Hong Kong director for Nielsen//NetRatings Peter Steyn said it was too early to tell whether any offices in the region would close, as Nielsen//NetRatings had acquired only a controlling 52 per cent stake in Paris-listed NetValue.

A bid to acquire the remainder from public investors would be launched and after this decisions would be made about office premises and staffing levels, Mr Steyn said.

Both Nielsen//NetRatings and NetValue, which compete in selling reports based on data collected from panels of Internet users, have offices in Hong Kong and have shed staff here in the past year.

In several other Asian markets there is no overlap. NetValue has offices in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, while Nielsen//NetRatings' are in Japan, Australia and China.

"We will continue to evaluate each market where NetValue is and where we are and then based on the economic importance and viability, we will decide which markets to keep. Honestly at this point I don't know which markets we will keep," Mr Steyn said.

However, he said the Hong Kong office would definitely remain open. "It's a very strong market for us."

Nielsen//NetRatings in May acquired the European audience measurement business of United States-based Jupiter Media Metrix.

An offer to buy the US unit from Jupiter was blocked by antitrust regulators.

Mr Steyn said the company did not see any legal opposition to the NetValue acquisition, largely because the French regulators who oversee NetValue would not stop the sale and US regulators have no jurisdiction over this merger.

The NetValue acquisition will leave Nielsen//NetRatings, a unit of consumer and television measurement firm ACNielsen, as the largest Internet audience measurement company in the world and the only major firm specialising in this area.

Rival Taylor Nelson Sofres has an office in Hong Kong, which conducts Internet research and covers other consumer areas as well.

In Asia, fierce competition and the demise of many dotcom customers have already taken their toll on rival iamasia in November, when the Hong Kong company closed shop in a number of Asian markets.

Nielsen//NetRatings also closed offices in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

Jupiter Media Metrix, whose fortunes rose along with those of the dotcom companies for which it tracked traffic, decided to liquidate this summer after selling off many of its units. What remains of Jupiter Research issues reports but no longer tracks Internet traffic.

Much of the market research industry is suffering from the economic downturn, while the market for Internet research has shrunk along with the prospects of many startups and mid-sized Internet companies that once used the reports to formulate strategy.

Executives from Taylor Nelson Sofres indicated regional demand for Internet market research had fallen drastically.

While the active Internet population in many Asian countries continues to grow, there is a shrinking number of clients willing to pay for the market research.

Mr Steyn said he saw the consolidation going some way towards eliminating the kind of confusion that existed on the client side when there were many different companies offering their own, slightly different, audience figures.

"It just eliminates confusion in the market over which numbers to use," he said.
Nielsen//NetRatings has more than 750 clients buying its reports and NetValue more than 130. NetValue has operations in France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as Asia.