Catcha Media and Says.com form digital advertising group

The deal is said to be worth US$20 million, and the digital advertising business will allow both companies to enjoy a combined reach of 9.78 million Malaysians each month. The country has a population of 29 million currently.

“As numerous studies remind advertisers that consumers spend more on social media than TV, we see a shift towards the advertising of the future, where marketing messages take shape as sharable ‘social’ content rather than the way it presently appears to users—as interruptions," said Khailee Ng, co-founder and CEO of Says.com.

He added that the new company would combine custom content, digital advertising and social media centric solutions, and reach out to audiences via platforms such as MSN, Lowyat.net and Skype. The service may potentially be used on other platforms on a later date.

Says.com already serves more than 80 brands including Nike, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Maxis and Nestle.

CEO of Catcha Media Patrick Grove, meanwhile, noted that social-media marketing is the apex of the future, as digital marketing is the future, adding that it intends to expand this business regionally and the expected profitability will allow the group to consider an IPO within the coming 12 months.

“[We want] to dominate the digital advertising space,” he told Campaign Asia-Pacific. “Beyond this, it is also about two entrepreneurs and their passionate, driven teams coming together to build the future of media and advertising.”

Catcha Media also operates all of Microsoft’s online properties in the country, including the MSN portal, Windows Live Messenger and Hotmail, as well as the advertising space for the country’s technology forum, Lowyat.net.