Australian Ad Firm BMCMedia Expands In Asia

BMCMedia.com, Australia’s largest Internet advertising firm, is this month setting up offices in Singapore and Hong Kong in order to target the Asia-wide Internet market.

In Singapore, the Australian firm has teamed up with local Web consulting firm Active Media. BMCMedia has chosen Active Media’s managing director, Peter Leung, as the general manager & director of the Singapore office.

“Internet advertising in Asia needs to be regionally focused, yet as is the case with traditional advertising, there is still a need to have the local office presence to service the client directly,” commented Leung.

Another Active Media partner, Chris Wang, is setting up the Hong Kong office.

“In Asia, the advertising hubs are Hong Kong and Singapore. Most of the Fortune 400 and 500 companies are in these areas,” he said.

BMCMedia.com’s chairman, Anthony Bertini, said the decision to open the offices in both areas was in response to the growing demand from existing clients and the potential of untapped markets in Asia.

Currently, the online advertising industry in Asia is fairly nascent. However, Goldman Sachs forecasts that the aggregate Asia on-line advertising market could reach US$1.5 billion by 2001.

Established in 1998, BMCMedia.com represents more than 85 sites across the Asia-Pacific which collectively register more than 130 million page impressions per month, according to the company.

In addition to its expanded operations in Asia, BMCMedia.com has an existing partnership with Flycast, one of the largest online advertising networks in the U.S.