Press Releases

Microsoft’s Ciao to share insights into Social Advertising and Online Reputation in E-Commerce at Internet World

9th May 2011, London, UK: Microsoft’s Ciao, the social shopping website, is pleased to announce it will be presenting at this year’s Internet World event, on the topics of Social Advertising and Online Reputation in E-Commerce.

Alexander Miller, Team Lead Advertising Sales Ciao UK, will be speaking about ‘Social Advertising: what is it, who is doing it and why does it work?’ at 13h10-13h40 on Wednesday 11th May. He will be discussing the notion that consumers are the most influential source of advice for people making purchases online, and looking at what this means for companies looking to build effective social media campaigns.



Vincenzo Calenne will cover ‘Online Reputation in the E-Commerce Arena’, speaking about the importance of online reputation in relation to e-commerce, discussing the impact of the power shift from advertiser to the consumer resulting from the rise in online review sites. Vincenzo’s talk will take place on Tuesday 10th May at 11h45-12h00.



Sarah Fortuna, UK&I IWS Marketing Manager at HP, will also be on hand at Ciao’s stand on Wednesday 11th May to speak about the very successful campaign the company recently ran on Ciao to promote its new HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One printer.



HP’s bespoke campaign ran from January until April across Ciao, Microsoft’s MSN Tech and Gadgets and Windows Live Instant Messenger. Over 65,000 click-throughs were generated to a dedicated campaign microsite (http://www.ciao-special.co.uk/HP/estation/ph3/). Creative on Ciao drove over 45,000 clicks to the custom built microsite throughout the campaign.



The innovative project was designed by Ciao Advertising to reach both Ciao and MSN’s audience of tech enthusiasts with the message that HP takes a proactive approach to online opinions. Competition to take part was fierce among the Ciao community, with over 5000 applications received. The ten members selected were given the chance to put the new printer series through its paces for two weeks before giving their verdict.



Alexander Miller, Head of Advertising UK at Ciao, said:



“We’re really pleased to have the opportunity to take part in Internet World 2011 for another year. It’s always a great event, attended by a very switched-on, creative crowd. Vincenzo and I will be there to share the knowledge and experience we’ve gathered through our years in the digital advertising and commerce sectors. And we’re excited to welcome Sarah from HP to our stand on the Wednesday, who will be able to share her insights on social advertising from a brand’s perspective.”



Sarah Fortuna, HP UK&I Consumer Marketing Manager, said:



“Ciao Advertising helped us to unlock the potential of the social shopping trend by creating a campaign which would engage a wide range of consumers with the HP ePrint technology. We’re really pleased with the level of interest the campaign generated and we value the feedback from our users to the very last word. The project not only brought hands-on experience of a great technology and product to a relevant audience to share with their peers, but it also gave us a clearer and more tangible picture of our customers’ needs, highlighting the core benefits to their lives on which we constantly seek to build for the future. We are happy to have worked with Ciao on bringing our brand and customers together in what has been one of the most exciting user generated content project to date.



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For more information please contact:



Lucie Bickerdike at 3 Monkeys Communications

lucie(at)3-monkeys.co.uk

0207 009 3806



Sarah Fortuna, Alexander Miller and Vinzenzo Calenne will be available for media briefings at Internet World. If you would like to arrange a briefing, or if you would like any more information about Ciao’s activities at the event, please contact Lucie.



About Ciao

Ciao is Europe’s No. 1 comparison shopping and consumer website and provides users with over 6.1 million reviews per month. By offering a wide product range in 7 different countries and languages: (www.ciao.de, www.ciao.co.uk, www.ciao.fr, www.ciao.it, www.ciao.es, www.ciao-shopping.nl, www.ciao.se), Ciao is the perfect platform for merchants and advertisers to connect with their specific target groups. Ciao Headquarters are based in Munich, Germany and was founded in 1999. Other regional Ciao locations include; London, Romania and Poland.

Since the acquisition by Microsoft in 2008, Ciao has been an integral part of the Bing and MSN shopping platform, delivering the best possible experience for online shoppers and advertisers alike.

Ciao is located on the Web at http://www.ciao-group.com Ciao social media news and trends are located at www.facebook.com/ciaouk, http://socialmedia.ciao.co.uk/ and Twitter:@ciao_uk.



[1] ComScore Media Metrix / March 2011 measured in terms of the aggregate unique visitors in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden.

[2] Omniture / March 2011



About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.



About MSN and Windows Live

MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localised versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live, a new set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live are being offered alongside each other as complementary services. Windows Live Messenger is available at http://get.live.com/messenger/overview.



MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.