NZ Post grabs online holding

By RICHARD BRADDELL

New Zealand Post has put another foot into the electronic communications market by investing $1 million for a 20 per cent stake in MessageMedia New Zealand.

MessageMedia is at present operated in a joint venture of eVentures and MessageMedia of the United States.

The investment is aimed at giving NZ Post a low-risk entry into whatis expected to be a fast-growing market for direct marketing via e-mail.

The chief executive officer of NZ Post's enterprises, John Allen, said "permission-based" marketing offered through MessageMedia was the pinnacle of direct marketing because only people who wanted to get the message did so.

Those customers who ended up on e-mailing lists who did not want to be could avoid the junk mail by saying so.

As well as customers, MessageMedia would bring capital, technology and experience, Mr Allen said.

Furthermore, the approach enabled the use of customer lists without breaching the Privacy Act.

New Zealand Post's $1 million in investment will go directly into MessageMedia's rather than eVenture's capital.

NZ Post has made several similar-sized investments in technology-based companies in the past year, including a 50 per cent stake in ECN, and stakes in Wellington software company Silent One and another software company, InfoLink.

eVentures chief executive Cindy Mitchener said MessageMedia did not need the money because it operated on a low-cost model, but the brand relationship with NZ Post was pivotal.

She said NZ Post-owned Datamail and Kiwi Post would provide additional customer contacts to be leveraged by MessageMedia.