Makena Technologies has always been pretty forward thinking in striking branded deals for its There.com virtual world, and its latest example is no exception. The company has partnered with US clothing brand NaCo USA, which targets Hispanic and Latin American consumers. The companies say the online audience for this demographic is 19.5 million people in the US, to give you some idea of their ambitions.
The deal involves a special NaCo catalogue to be distributed in There.com, offering nine unique items of clothing, as well as virtual versions of real-world merchandise. Users will buy these, so presumably there’s some form of revenue-sharing deal between Makena and NaCo. The latter’s founder and chief creative officer Edoardo Chavarin is certainly keen:
“Because of There.com’s demographic mix, the platform is a perfect fit for us to engage and connect with our target audience. We believe There.com’s Hispanic audience will understand and appreciate our brand. Our customers spend a considerable amount of time on social networking sites and we believe that There.com’s virtual world is the next evolution for interacting with our customers wherever they may be.”
Interestingly, if the deal attracts more Hispanic users to There.com, it could boost Makena’s commercial performance for other reasons too. The company cites a recent comScore study claiming that the display advertising market for Hispanic consumers in the US could be as much as $140 million a year. If getting NaCo into There.com means more of this demographic sign up, Makena will be hoping to grab a bigger chunk of those revenues. It’s already seen 15 Hispanic clubs spring up in the world to cater for its growing userbase.
0 comments