Prime Television Limited announced today that it has launched iPRIME, which will provide regional internet media as never seen before in Australia. For the first time iPRIME will integrate customised community-based content for online audiences with television, maximising the blended relationship between the two media.
iPRIME will offer marketers and advertising agencies the opportunity of being able to micro-target their campaigns to specific regional audiences. This unlocks vast opportunities for marketers to develop relevant and highly measurable campaigns to deliver real results. iPRIME will provide innovative technologies to these advertisers and marketers across multiple media platforms.
The new company will be headed up by the ex Vice President and General Manager for Commerce, Yahoo! USA, Tony Surtees. iPRIME’s main aim is to provide regional audiences with focused content about what is happening in each community. So that Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong residents are as well serviced as those in Sydney or Melbourne. iPRIME will deliver shows that encourage television viewers and online audiences to consume both of these media simultaneously. The idea is to connect audiences to what’s happening ‘Right here, right now!’
‘This new behaviour of multi-tasking consumers and the integration of these media are both allowing marketers to satisfy consumers more comprehensively and engage them with their brands,’ said Tony Surtees, CEO, iPRIME. This consistent branding across platforms delivers ‘Persistent Presence’ and the two media reinforce each other.
‘Regional consumers use the internet up to twice as much as metropolitan users and in some key categories, non metropolitan users make up the majority of web traffic. Yet these regional audiences are typically underserved, with very little customised, relevant and localised material, information or even local advertising online,’ continued Tony Surtees. iPRIME will provide a single source of information for local communities, with each regional site including local sports, jobs, events, activities, dates, shopping, dining, entertainment and promotions. iPRIME has partnered with relevant content providers, local sports and community groups, as well as real people from the community.
Warwick Syphers, CEO of Prime Television Limited said: ‘iPRIME will deliver relevant content targeted at regional audiences via its localised websites, featuring hyper-local content generated specifically for an individual town or city in regional Australia.’
Video will be a cornerstone feature of the iPRIME sites. Video content for iPRIME will come from Prime Television, and local user generated video.
iPRIME will initially launch in Canberra in October, closely followed by Wollongong and Newcastle in December 2007. Over the next nine months iPRIME will extend its coverage across other regional areas through 2008. The staged roll out of iPRIME will mirror the Prime Television coverage area which includes over 4.5 million people and covers key regional areas like Wagga Wagga, Orange, Tamworth, Ballarat, Albury and Bunbury.
To generate hyper-local content of genuine interest to the local community, iPRIME has developed relationships with a large number of locally relevant partners and content providers. These partners are crucial to the popularity and success of each iPRIME site with its local audience.
At launch time in Canberra, the following partners will be working with iPRIME:
Sport
– 3eep – grassroots sport
– Brumbies Rugby
– Navy Canberra Vikings
- Canberra TransACT Capitals
- Skuff.TV
Cars
– Go Auto
– Dealer Solutions
Dating
– RSVP
Jobs
– SEEK
Local Content
– ChannelVision
– Canberra Institute of Technology
– Canberra University
- Australian National University
Other affiliates
– RealEstate.com.au
– GetPrice (shopping)
– Out in Canberra
[release from Einsteinz Communications]