Online vertical ad network Networkplay.in, which was launched on October 15 this year, aims to break even within a year of its launch. The online venture, set up by ex-Yahoo! employees, is backed by Network18’s venture funding arm Capital18 and Goose Fish Media Ventures.
Networkplay.in already has clients like Hyundai, Kingfisher, Brooke Bond and Reliance, among others, in its fold.
Rammohan Sundaram, Founder and Managing Director, NetworkPlay.in, said, “We ensure that we build products that are going to be very intuitive in nature. We also see to it that the advertisers get the right kind of audience and make sure of a cost effective product that will meet all business objectives of our advertisers.”
Networkplay.in has also ventured into the travel space with partners like MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, Oktatabyebye.com, ixigo.com, Aarzoo, and Bixee Travel. The ad network, which has also launched a women’s portal, now aims to launch portals on business, technology, news, shopping, social media, and entertainment by the third quarter of 2009.
Its news and business partners include entrepreneur.com, EUbusiness.com, bizmerger.net, Merinews.com, Bixee News, and Igovernment.com. Networkplay.in has also partnered with travel and lifestyle social networking community website called Wayn.
According to Networkplay.in, these verticals are built around the company’s core philosophy of building categories around a specific audience base, which can help brand advertisers reach their desired consumers effectively.
At a time when the markets are seeing a slowdown and industries are cutting down on their advertising spends, the ad serving portal claims the slowdown has not impacted it at all.
Sundaram added, “It is all about proposition and the values being offered in the market. What we are offering is that we are a unique, vertical and not a blind network, and this is what distinguishes us from other networks.”
He further said, “If the internet has to become a Rs 1,000-crore business by 2010-11, then it has to come from the traditional brand advertisers. We are in the mode of evangelising and educating the market.”
