Netsperanto Launches Vertical Net Communities

Brandweek, April 3, 2000 by Erik Gruenwedel

Looking to tap into an estimated 50 million foreign-born, second-generation Americans, El Segundo, Calif.-based Netsperanto.com this month will launch eight stand-alone Internet communities targeting diverse audiences.

The native and English language sites include: CUGnet.com (Chinese), iJeepney.com (Filipino), Kcities.com (Korean), RussianPlanet.com (Russian), iPolonia.com (Polish), Indus Villange.com (Indian), Omely.com (Vietnamese) and iStudentNet.com (international students).

Each site will feature chat rooms, message boards, videos, audio, dating services, personalized home pages, Web publishing tools and e-commerce, in addition to news (from Reuters), entertainment (soap operas to be determined) and original local content germane to the ethnic group, according to Nita Song, vice president of corporate affairs for Netsperanto.

"Most international sites focus on a global market," said Song. "[For example, instead] of reaching Chinese around the world, we are trying to reach [Chinese Americans] who have been here 10 or 20 years."

Despite a 64 percent Internet usage and 18 percent higher median income than the general U.S. population, Song said 34 million Asians living in the U.S. don't speak English. She said similar demographics exist in the other targeted communities.

"We saw an open playing field [within these communities], compared to [launching] in the congested Hispanic market," she said.

The business model for the sites involves more than just capturing demographic numbers, focusing instead on niche marketing. Song cited AT&T, a former employer, which spends considerable resources across limited channels, including direct mail, telemarketing and local newspapers trying to penetrate ethnic markets. By utilizing Netsperanto as a central portal, Song said AT&T could reach seven markets in a more cost-effective and efficient manner, depending on the size of the partnership.

"For AT&T to work with eight sites independently [would] be a nightmare, logistically," she said. "Culturally, there are issues like language, relationships, gestures, negotiation styles and other methods of doing business that can be better handled from one platform."

Additional strategies include partnering with and creating or hosting Web sites for 80 ethnic organizations, which encompass some 60,000 members, and other social service associations. Partnerships with large-scale ethnic distributors of hard and soft goods are in the works as well, according to Song.

With 40 employees based in El Segundo, Netsperanto will cull primarily English content from ACTV, a Chinese broadcast and newspaper group; NTV, a Russian TV station; The KoreAm Journal, an English-language Korean publication, among others, in addition to content from 200 correspondents within the U.S. and targeted countries.

Branding for the individual sites was done in association with Los Angeles-based ethnic agencies Creasia, TCDM & Associates and AKAC Studios. A national agency search for the Netsperanto brand, which is a hybrid of the word Net and Esperanto, or the common language founded in 1885, is under consideration.