Turning Up the Volume With AOL
myPlay.com Inc., which customizes banner ads and e-mail for recording companies, has signed a co-branding deal with America Online, expanding its reach in selling digitally recorded music online.
As part of the deal, MyPlay’s direct marketing program will be integrated with Spinner.com, AOL’s 140-station Internet music service, starting in the second quarter this year.
“This will take us from hundreds of thousands of customers to hundreds of millions of customers,” says Michael Crotty, vice president of consumer marketing at MyPlay, Redwood, CA.
The MyPlay program works like this:
A consumer visiting the Web site (www.myplay.com) receives free information about artists, and access to free services for listening and storing music collections online. To generate traffic, MyPlay targets banner ads on other Web sites, which pop up with results triggered by keyword searches initiated by consumers.
To obtain a free “online locker” for storing music and personal data, consumers need only provide their e-mail address and select a password.
Through registration, customers create profiles that indicate their preferences. MyPlay gathers additional data through e-mail response forms and by tracking clickthroughs on links, banner ads and e-mail promotions; however, it prefers data that is volunteered. “No data could be richer than what the customer tells you,” says Crotty. “If they say they only want to hear about country music and the [database] indicates they like jazz, we still only send them information about country music.”
Following registration, MyPlay e-mails customers a thank-you letter along with free music for listening online. MyPlay generates whopping customer opt-in rates of 65% to 70%. The industry average to opt-in for e-mail lists is closer to 25%, according to Crotty.
Advertisers on the MyPlay Web site pull the highest response, with Web site space promotions offering to download free music tracks from the Internet to customers’ online lockers. Targeted banners pull second best, followed by e-mail offers, says Crotty.
In effect a form of Internet radio, Spinner plays a wide variety of music, offers online shopping links for advertisers, and conducts a forum for online listener feedback.
The MyPlay program was created with the help of Post Communications, San Francisco, which is currently being acquired by Netcentives Inc.
