JACKSTREET CHALLENGES TRADITIONAL INTERNET ADVERTISING WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE BUZZCASTING NETWORK, A STREAMING MEDIA SOLUTION THAT COMBINES, BROADCASTING, EMAIL AND WORD OF MOUTH TO DRIVE CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COST DOWN.
New service may be the cheapest most effective way to brand a business, get new customers and generate sales.
Los Angeles, CA -- March 29, 2001 -- JackStreet.com today announced the launch of the Buzzcasting Network, an Internet marketing solution that aims to drive customer acquisition cost down by combining the best features of radio broadcasting, viral marketing, interactive customer service and transaction processing to create a new and dramatically less expensive way to acquire new customers.
The system is based on what JackStreet calls The BuzzBox, a window that pops up when requested and plays a professionally-produced interview with a company about its products or services. Borrowing a page from the infomercial concept, the streaming presentation offers answers to frequently asked questions and can provide brand and/or product-specific information such as feature benefits or gift ideas. What takes the BuzzBox far beyond a standard informercial, is that the BuzzBox lets listeners chat live with the merchant, make an immediate purchase without leaving the screen, and most importantly, allows the listener to pass the entire "interview in a box" on to someone else they think would be interested. And that's what JackStreet calls Buzzcasting(tm).
"We've married something very old with something new, and something very new," says Errol Smith, co-founder of JackStreet. "Word of mouth is as old as civilization. People love to be the first to discover new things and the pride of a great new discovery is fulfilled by telling others. For marketers this is good news because, normally, when a friend tells us to go check something out, most of us do."
"Streaming media, e-mail and online chat are relatively new technologies, but when their best features are combined with word-of-mouth you get a viral marketing cocktail that can effortlessly generate an entire network of new customers and deliver sales to your door at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing channels. But, what's very new and revolutionary about our offering is the cost. We've passed the efficiencies of the technologies we've leveraged onto the end user."
Concludes Smith, "We're confident that we can help businesses drive their customer acquisition cost way down, create a next generation marketing model and still make a profit."
BUZZCASTING(tm) PARTNERSHIPS:
JackStreet has received a valuable early vote of confidence for its new program from a major player in the business world. The leading payroll processing company, ADP (NYSE ADP), has entered into a strategic partnership with JackStreet to promote its Buzzcasting Services to its network of over 250,0000 small and emerging businesses. In addition, strategic relationships with Commission Junction and Microsoft will play a major role in helping to spread the word about this new Internet marketing tool.
Additionally, the company has entered into an agreement to introduce Buzzcasting in Japan.
MORE ABOUT THE BUZZBOX:
1) Viewers who change channels to avoid a 30 second commercial often sit through a half hour infomercial because the content is more compelling. The BuzzBox aims to capture and transfer the compelling and sticky character of infomercials to the Internet by allowing e-businesses to quickly give shoppers the most important information the need to make a purchase. The BuzzBox trumps traditional marketing and advertising channels by being more useful, more informative, more personalized and more engaging -- making the message attractive versus something to void.
2) If a company is selling something that's unique or complex, the BuzzBox is a far easier and much more interesting way to explain it to customers than traditional methods.
3) The standard BuzzBox includes a "call to action" that encourages the shopper to make a purchase on-the-spot and provides a "buy now" button so shoppers can execute the transaction as soon as their questions have been answered -- all without leaving the BuzzBox screen.
4) Anyone who listens to a BuzzBox can pass the entire interview on to a friend anywhere in the world, via e-mail. So if a business offers a discount or other incentive for using the "Tell a Friend" feature, the word about the business can spread quickly.
5) Finally, the system has a "buzz meter" that tells businesses how many times the BuzzBox has been viewed, and how many times its been passed along, which allows the marketer to easily track the return on their investment in real-time.
"Word of mouth works," trumpets Jackstreet co-founder Errol Smith, "Many companies have been built on referrals alone. Viral marketing works. Hot Mail was the poster child for the viral marketing revolution. By combining word of mouth, viral marketing, a sprinkle of supporting technologies and a right price point, we're hoping to start a revolution that will supercharge e-commerce by finally making the cost of acquiring customers affordable to every business."
THE TECHNOLOGY:
JackStreet's Buzzcasting Network uses RealAudio8 as the core audio delivery medium because of its ubiquity as the online audio standard. JackStreet selected RealNetworks' products for its solution because over 180 million unique users have registered as RealAudio users. RealNetworks is the pioneer and recognized leader in media delivery on the Internet. It develops and markets software products and services designed to enable users of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia services using the Web. JackStreet uses other partner technologies to enable chat and purchase capabilities with the BuzzBox system.
ABOUT JACKSTREET.COM:
JackStreet is a service of B2labs, Inc., a next generation provider of e-business solutions. Based in Glendale, California, the company's founders have been developing business-to-business solutions since 1997. The company's Sound Solution Network provides e-business decision tools, webcasting and advertising services. JackStreet is a leading edge player in the convergence of media, technology, and advertising.
TRADEMARK NOTICE:
Buzzcasting, BuzzBox, Buzzcasting Network, and JackStreet are trademarks of JackStreet.com -- all rights reserved.
NOTES:
Co-founder Errol Smith is available for interviews, with 24-hour advance notice.
BUZZBOX IMAGES:
For printable high-resolution screen shots of the system in action, go to:
http://www.send2press.com/jackstreet/buzzbox01.jpg
http://www.send2press.com/jackstreet/buzzbox02.jpg
CONTACT:
Christopher Simmons - Pres., Mindset
PR Representative for JackStreet.com
PH: 310-373-4856
E-MAIL: JackPR@mindsetmedia.com
Visit the company web site at http://www.jackstreet.com
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