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Tools: Multicity.com Connects Global Users
Title: Tools: Multicity.com
Connects Global Users
Author: by Marshal
M. Rosenthal
Source: Digitrends.net
January 16, 2001
Word of mouth is a powerful tool for marketers to use. But its
use is limited on the Internet because there's no common language
among the global community. So most U.S. companies end up advertising
online only in English--even though some 50 percent of users
don't speak the language, according to Forrester Research (who
predicts that by 2005 less than 35 percent of Internet users
will be able to speak English). As a result, up to 46 percent
of U.S. businesses turn away international orders because they
don't have the processes in place to translate them. Two brothers
are out to change this gap in global communications.
Alain Hanash, CEO, and President Patrick Hanash--French/Lebanese
brothers--founded Virginia-based Multicity.com. Just a few months
ago they were working out of their parent's basement; now they've
received $15 million in venture capital funding.
Multicity.com's "In-the-Box" technology enables users to send
chat rooms, message boards and Web polls directly to another
person's E-mail inbox. This technology works with every type
of E-mail application currently available (however, some recipients
of these communication products may need to adjust the HTML
settings of their particular E-mail applications or click on
additional buttons). The tools can be sent via E-mail: The chat
room lands in the user's E-mail inbox, allowing him or her to
instantly chat with colleagues or friends in real time. The
chat room is opened when the inbox is opened. The technology
also allows for streaming video and audio.
Multicity.com provides free tools to more than 200,000 Web sites
in 70 different countries. The tools, such as chat rooms, instantly
translate to and from six languages. All the company's tools,
such as message boards and voting booths come in 19 languages.
Since Multicity.com is an application service provider (ASP),
the chat rooms reside on Multicity.com's site, although they
appear on the host Web site. The chat rooms (and other tools)
connect to each other laterally as well. A user not only can
enter a chat room and "chat away," but at a click of a button
also can see all the live chat rooms on the Multicity.com network
around the world.
The company's business model is primarily derived from ad banners
streaming across chat rooms. Each of those chat rooms carry
ad banners (primarily in English, although some advertisers
may target users in other countries). These "billboards" are
integrated inside the chat room so as to conform to the topic
of conversation, and are links so clicking on a banner takes
the user to the ad's Web site. For instance, a chat room on
Britney Spears can be E-mailed to any number of people that
would include ads from Sam Goody. "Stickiness" is also greater,
according to Patrick Hanash, since "chatters" stay for 30 minutes
or more on average. So a marketer/advertiser can use Multicity.com's
global network to reach thousands of people in Europe, Asia,
the United States, etc.
Advertisers can select to pay a one-time fee to use Multicity.com's
"In-the-Box" deliverable tools as a standalone E-mail communications
or as an integrated element in one of their own E-mails. Since
the pass-along power of Multicity.com's tools helps advertisers
extend their reach online as they acquire new prospects, Multicity.com
also will be offering a cost per acquisition pricing structure.
Targeted banner advertisements also can be delivered based on
language or by category (music, sports, entertainment, travel,
etc.).
Licensing is also part of the business model. For example, CampusCareerCenter.com
(a global portal for matching job-seeking university students
throughout the world with companies that are seeking to hire
them) pays Multicity.com a fee for the company to build and
maintain the tools on its site. CampusCareerCenter.com uses
Multicity.com's chat room so as to enhance the interaction between
company recruiters and prospective job candidates. This replaces
the fee of hiring a java programmer. CampusCareerCenter.com
also has the option of keeping ads out of the chat room altogether
(in which case they then pay Multicity.com a fee for excluding
ads).
Viral marketing is inherent with the product (tools). As an
example, Multicity.com sent 10,000 E-mails to its user base
offering prizes, such as an MP3 player, to the individual that
forwarded the chat room to the largest number of people. The
10,000 E-mails traveled on to yield Multicity.com 35,000 newly
registered people on its network in one week. Some 2,500 new
Webmasters everyday register with Multicity.com to use one of
the company's tools, totaling more than 200,000 Web sites to
date--40 percent overseas in 70 countries.
Another use of marketing came into play during the election,
wherein the lead proponents for Proposition 38 in California
(which sought to provide vouchers for all public school students)
used Multicity.com's tools to market and fund the raise. The
Prop38 campaign E-mailed the chat room out to its mailing list--several
thousand registered supporters--and had a chat/fundraiser with
Tim Draper, a chief proponent of the proposition, online in
real time using Multicity.com's tools.
Finally, all users are connected to the Multicity.com network.
So once someone is in a chat room, he or she can view and access
any of the hundreds of chat rooms that are operating on the
Multicity.com network. The viewer also can jump to the Web site
that hosts the chat room without leaving his or her E-mail inbox.
This is not to say there isn't room for improvement. The biggest
problem Multicity.com must deal with is that machine translation
is not always accurate to the "intent" of what is being said--and
as a result its products, like chat rooms, are not able to always
translate perfectly. "No technology exists that allows for perfect
translation," says Patrick Hanash. "However, Multicity.com's
instant translation technology significantly lowers the barriers
to international communication by enabling different language
speakers to interact with each other. The accuracy of our machine
translation will increase through continual enhancements in
the technology."
According to Patrick Hanash, no one else offers tools at this
time that can instantly translate, be sent through one's E-mail,
and connect everyone as a network. Marketers looking to extend
their global "reach" now have a way for reaching across language
barriers and accessing thousands of people in dozens of countries.
A sample of Multicity.com's users include:
www.trimarkpictures.com/
www.ummah.net -- The Islamic
Gateway Worldwide Media Network - the organization touts that
it offers the only moderated Islamic chat on the Web. The chat
URL is: www.ummah.net/chat/chat2.html
www.jennifer-love.com/
-- click on forums, it will take you to Multicity.com's chat
room.
www.britneyzone.com
www.englishpractice.com
-- a site to learn English. It uses several chat rooms for various
lessons.
www.Gambian.com -- a forum
for dialogue on the Gambia, Senegal and other African regions.
www.india.ford.com --
click on the Josh zone
www.elvispresley.com
www.shania.net -- it has
scheduled chats
www.redhotchilipeppers.com
Marshal M. Rosenthal is a Los Angeles-based freelancer.
At a Glance Multicity.com
Multicity.com
http://www.multicity.com
Description: Multicity.com provides interactive, multilingual
communication solutions using E-mail that instantly links users
across the globe on the first-ever global branded "open network."
Availability: Products are currently available.
Clients: Multicity.com provides tools for more than 200,000
Webmasters in 70 countries. Users include a wide range of Web
sites.
Pricing: The tools range from free to several hundred
thousand dollars. Some Web sites for example, such as ScienceWise
and CampusCareerCenter, license the technology and receive customized
versions of the chat room, or message boards, or voting booth.
Multicity.com builds them a Minicity suite for the chat rooms
to connect to one another.
Important Stats: The tools are a quick fix for a number
of solutions. Webmasters looking for chat rooms or message boards
can quickly paste some html code and gain the tools. The tools
come in 19 different languages, and the chat room has instant
translation for six languages. So Webmasters, such as Chris
Doyon of www.unbrokenchain.com who occasionally communicates
with clients in Thailand, look to Multicity.com for its multilingual
strength.
Contact Info: James DuBeau, Multicity.com's PR Director:
jdubeau@multicitycorp.com
Multicity.com
1595 Spring Hill Road Suite 701
Tysons Corner, VA 22182
Ph- (703) 462-0065
Fx- (703) 790-3379
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"It's the future of the Internet...."
Red Herring Magazine |
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| "Multicity offers an excellent chat
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