NZ Post Enters Major Online Communication Venture With eVentures NZ
eVentures New Zealand announced today that the New Zealand Post Board has approved New Zealand Post taking a 20 percent
shareholding in MessageMedia New Zealand.
MessageMedia New Zealand was recently launched by eVentures New Zealand (eVentures) as a joint venture with
MessageMedia Inc., based in the United States. MessageMedia is a leading international company that provides advanced
messaging solutions for building and enhancing online customer relationships.
CEO of eVentures New Zealand, Cindy Mitchener, says eVentures is delighted that New Zealand Post recognised the
immediate and long-term strategic value of MessageMedia in New Zealand.
"New Zealand Post is the ideal partner for MessageMedia in this market. It's extremely pleasing to be associated with a
company with such a strong brand, which New Zealanders know and have confidence in", Ms Mitchener says.
Regarded as the leading provider of permission based e-messaging solutions in the US market, MessageMedia provides
information delivery, marketing, research, e-commerce and transactional messaging solutions.
"With its experience in communication and messaging, New Zealand Post will provide significant commercial opportunities
for MessageMedia as well as making a valuable contribution to the ongoing growth of the business. Both parties are
committed to being New Zealand's leading provider of e-messaging solutions, says Ms Mitchener.
John Allen, CEO of New Zealand Post Enterprises, says the services MessageMedia brings to New Zealand will contribute to
New Zealand Post's vision of being a leading provider of reliable, efficient services for messages, goods and payments.
"This deal signifies New Zealand Post's commitment to our customers' needs for electronic solutions," says Mr Allen.
eVentures and New Zealand Post will work together to further develop MessageMedia's market offerings in the
communications area.
MessageMedia allows businesses to develop accountable methods for building long-term, personal relationships with
customers and potential customers. It has already developed relationships with some of New Zealand's leading companies,
setting the standard for the future of permission based e-messaging in this country. The ability to send highly
personalised, graphic rich information, and then track results in real time, provides a significant market advantage for
companies using this technology.
Ms Mitchener says New Zealand businesses are eager to adopt new technology that will help them advance their customer
communications to deliver world class results.
"Worldwide trends indicate an exponential growth in the use of email, combined with a move to use outsourced Application
Service Providers for critically important business functionality."
The eVentures business model is based around launching leading international e-commerce brands in New Zealand, providing
them with investment capital, strategic resources and management services. Its objective is to be at the forefront of
e-commerce and Internet investment in New Zealand. eVentures will also provide investment and incubation services to
selected New Zealand businesses.
"eVentures New Zealand will always be looking for strategic partners who can contribute to the future growth of
businesses it launches," says Ms Mitchener.
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For further information contact:
Cindy Mitchener CEO, eVentures New Zealand Ltd ph 09 359 5000 cindym@eventures.co.nz
John Allen CEO, New Zealand Post Enterprises ph 04 496 4927
Communications Contact: Rachel Catanach ph 04 499 9111 rachel@svl.co.nz
B A C K G R O U N D E R
MessageMedia www.messagemedia.co.nz
MessageMedia is a leading international company that provides advanced messaging solutions for building and enhancing
online customer relationships.
MessageMedia's e-mail marketing and customer service solutions enable businesses to maximise the opportunities e-mail
offers as a communications channel with their customers. MessageMedia benefits clients by increasing customer
acquisition, retention and loyalty, and by reducing related operational technology risks in executing large-scale e-mail
programs.
MessageMedia works with companies in financial services, technology, publishing, entertainment, retail and ISPs/portals.
The company offers a variety of e-mail messaging solutions which help organisations create and deliver sophisticated
database-driven marketing programs. These solutions help MessageMedia's clients build, strengthen and enhance customer
relationships online and help them keep in touch with their employees, prospects, shareholders, suppliers, distribution
partners and other groups.
Software solutions are hosted on MessageMedia's server and provide advanced e-mail management and relational database
capabilities, allowing clients to develop and deliver targeted, personalised and trackable permission-based marketing
campaigns. MessageMedia's software is accessible via the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and provides
organisations with the flexibility and power to deliver e-mail campaigns of any scale on time.
MessageMedia's launch in New Zealand is a joint venture between eVentures New Zealand and MessageMedia Inc.
A SOFTBANK affiliate, MessageMedia Inc. was founded in 1994 in the US and is publicly trading on the NASDAQ. Some of
MessageMedia Incorporated's clients include Yahoo!, E*TRADE, Barclay's Bank, The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft, Readers
Digest, Compaq and Universal Studios.