RELAUNCHING Hi5 Social Networking Portal

Today?• Migration to digital formats accelerating• Online streaming, downloads, gaming, advertising etc

• Increasing amount of tie ups and joint ventures

• Increasing reach of media – especially the new media with multiple entertainment and media uses – play games, purchase music, stream movies, purchase magazines etc

• Increasing affluence levels with a larger consumer base

Today there is a significant blurring of lines between leisure and de-stressing, a reflection of the competitive times we live in.

And thus some of the new age entertainment services emerging today are designed to directly address these needs.

The Audience

Today atleast 13-15% of youngsters would like to spend their leisure time in learning something about themselves and at the same time spend quality time in bonding with their friends

The 15-19 year olds comprise 15% of all 15-55 year old urban Indian leisure consumers belonging to SEC A,B and C households.

There is more than double the likelihood of such individuals to regularly engage in indoor / outdoor sports or net based leisure than a typical Indian.

• A majority in this group consider net based activities and gaming in their consideration set and many have engaged in these activities atleast once.

• When it comes to internet based activities, these teenagers constitute one third of the entire group.

• They comprise 44% of the entire gaming universe.

Personality traits

• Relaxation• fun • mood improvement/enhancement• opportunity to discover/ learn new things• to bond with friends and relatives• refreshing experience, skill enhancement• make new friends • coolness quotient • Adventure• Rebellious

Hi5 is a social networking website. The company was founded in 2003 by Ramu Yalamanchi who is also the current CEO. As of January 2009, Hi5 claimed to have over 60 million active members.

Hi5 yesterday

• Forums• Groups• chat rooms• Photo

albums• music • videos

Currently the website offers:

• According to comScore, in 2008 Hi5 was the third most popular social networking site in terms of monthly unique visitors.

• Although created and headquartered in the US, it is more popular in other countries, particularly in Latin America, Portugal, Romania etc being ranked 37th in the world but only 84th in the US.

The Negatives

• There is not much option for you to view profiles anonymously and privately as you can see all the people who is viewing your profile

• Unlike MySpace and other social network sites, Hi5.com offers a very few widget selections

• Hi5 does not really advertise that much which, in a way, is a relief to those who does not want their profiles flooded with unnecessary information

•Being the 5th most popular social network and 11th most popular website all over the world Hi5 is continuously developing the website by launching a platform for developers so that they can add applications to cater its 50 million profiles. •Hi5.com recently joined Google’s Open Social platform to maintain this.

Updates

Hi5 launched Hi5 Games in 2009, adding casual games like sports, arcade, strategy and cards to its roster of social entertainment initiatives catered to some 60 million unique monthly users.

Hi 5 CoinsThe social networking service says hi5 Games will become an important part of its monetization strategy, with the help of their recently launched virtual currency that allows members to buy virtual gifts using real money in a digital form.

Users will eventually be able to utilize the virtual currency, called hi5 Coins, for direct transactions such as premium content, advanced gaming features and status upgrades.

Hi5 is also experimenting with “new and immersive” advertising options on hi5 Games,which it says will allow brands to better engage their target audience.

The Market

Top Social Networking Sites in India by Unique VisitorsDecember 2008 vs. December 2007Total India – Age 15+, Home/Work Locations*Source: comScore World Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Dec-07 Dec-08 % Change

Total Internet : Total Audience 26,240 32,099 22

Social Networking 12,795 19,369 51

Orkut 7,123 12,869 81

Facebook.com 1,619 4,044 150

Bharatstudent.com 1,736 3,269 88

hi5.com 714 2,012 182

ibibo.Com 1,970 990 -50

MySpace Sites 352 741 110

LinkedIn.com 293 513 75

PerfSpot.com 2,106 433 -79

BIGADDA.com 515 385 -25

Fropper.com 256 248 -3

Social networking continued to grow strongly in India this past year, with several of the top global brands carving out a more prominent position.

The sites that have the right blend of having both a strong brand and cultural relevance will be best positioned for future growth

Some competition

•Orkut.co.in•Facebook.com•Bharatstudent.com•Ibibo.com•Twitter.com•Bigadda.com•Indyarocks.com•Itimes.com

Reasons for Hi5’s potential

• Sundays are the leisure days!• 1-% leisure time on fitness activities• A relatively higher proportion also invests time

on reading.• Watching television for movies and sports is the

most enjoyable activity for these youngsters accompanied by listening to music using mp3 players.

• Sports and adventure are the two most popular genres of games they indulge in.

• 34% of current 15-19 year olds will consider leisure on the net the next big thing!

• 50% greater chance of engaging in arts, entertainment pursuits such as dance, plays, musicals etc.

Hi for tomorrow

Hi 5 will be the space for 13-19yrolds who “want to matter”!

• They – – Aspire to be Adventurous and Rebellious– Are actually secretly scared– Are Ambitious– Want to be given importance– Are Hyper active and energetic– Are Conscious of their coolness quotient– Want to discover and learn new things– Want to be updated on everything– Consider friends to be an important source of influence.

So what’s new?

• Linguistic advantage: The users have the option of sending messages in regional languages

• Personal blog option• E-books on hi 5• Music – popularizing applications like ‘singstar’ and their

music industry updates which already exist on the Hi5 page but are not really known to the indian audience.

• Updates on personal interests: such as art, math, quiz competitions, coaching classes in music and dance, sports news etc depending on the option chosen.

• THE HI5 CAMP– A day long activity where 15-19 yr old are invited

to PVR malls across 5 major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore

The Announcement

The Hi5 Camp

•Gaming space•Paint ball contest – organized by ‘SportsVille’•Karaoke – a karaoke section where the participants can have explore their favourite music and sing along with friends•Spot Quiz – They can also try their hand at a spot quiz to win fun Hi5 goodies•Hi5 BlogStar

– Be the new Hi5 ‘BlogStar’ – participants will be given half an hour to write their own blog and another half an hour to promote it

The Hi5 Camp

• Rio stall – official drink sponsor

– Hi5 plans to partner with RIO, a fruit flavoured beverage, which targets the same audience

– RIO will get advertising space in the hi5 portal and inturn, will partner at the hi5 camp by putting up a stall and distributing free RIOs to those who have registered online

– RIO will also get an opportunity to run their ‘DESIGN YOUR OWN RIO BOTTLE’ contest on the hi5 portal, where Artsy 15-19 yr olds could take part in the same

The Hi5 Camp

On ground Communication

• Live streaming of viral video of the brand new Hi5, during the event

• Banners• Fliers• Hi5 merchandise – caps, key chains, mugs, t- shirts to

all winners

• Mobile vans to schools and junior colleges – to promote the event and distribute flyers

• SMS – way2sms.com tie up• Online –

– EDM’s to existing Hi5 members– Sportsville to promote event on their site

• Radio – a 15 sec slot on the popular radio station radio city in the 5 major cities announcing the event

On ground Communication

Other spaces

• Tie up with the online sports portal – ‘Sportsville’ – where they will advertise the new Hi5 on their portal and we give them a tab on our site. Also the paint ball contest will be organised by ‘Sportsville’.

• Sms buzz : about the new Hi5 through a tie up with the website – way2sms.com, whereby they receive advertising space on Hi5.

Budget

• TVC – for a 15 sec spot + media bought on channels - 40 lakhs• Radio – 10 sec spots on 2 leading radio channels – 3 lakh• SMS – To buy database – 1 lakh• Online – 2 lakh (banner ads on sites)• On ground budget:

– Location – 2 lakhs/day– Audio Visual support – 1 lakh– Stalls – 50 thousand– Misc – 50 thousand

• Printing – 1.5 lakh

Conclusion:

• The hi5 portal will pick up traffic• The target audience will be happy with the new offerings• The on ground event will gather a good crowd and spread the message in the right direction• Along with traffic profitability will increase

Thank you

Sneha Ramachandran - 94

Ranjan Atreya-131