BEIJING, Oct. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Youku Tudou
Inc. (NYSE: YOKU), China's leading
Internet television company ("Youku Tudou"), and Alibaba Group
(NYSE: BABA) today announced that the two companies will work
together to drive the adoption of big data in marketing in
China. Alibaba Group's online
marketing technology platform, Alimama, will use its data and
technology to support innovative online video marketing techniques,
i.e. View and Buy developed by
Youku, and Merchants' Video Channel
developed by Tudou; and help small companies to improve their
operations with data and make online video marketing services more
accessible to them.
Alimama announced earlier this year that it would launch online
video marketing services in collaboration with major video websites
in China to help widen the
relevance and reach of online video marketing by Taobao Marketplace
and Tmall.com merchants to a broader base of customers. Today's
announcement represents a deepening of the existing collaboration
by working together with Youku Tudou on data and technology.
"This collaboration is benefiting from the combination of
advantages from both sides. The Youku Tudou Cloud and Alibaba's
data and technology will collaboratively bring consumer behavior in
media and entertainment and consumer behavior in products and
services closer together. Both parties will work in stride to
realize the "Screen is Channel" and the "Content is Storefront"
vision, creating strong synergies between the domains of media and
entertainment, and commerce and payment. By working together, we
will work to usher in the new online plus offline era." said
Victor Koo, Chairman and CEO of
Youku Tudou.
"We will build the marketing infrastructure with Youku Tudou in
the big data era with the aim of creating value for small companies
with data, improving user experience, and building a simple yet
highly effective ecosystem that can benefit all participants,"
added Jonathan Lu, chief executive
officer of Alibaba Group.
At the announcement event, Alimama also formally launched its
open Data Management Platform (Alimama DMP). Through this platform,
Alibaba Group works with brands and merchants to enhance
understanding of their customer data and to direct targeted
marketing to a broader base of consumers with similar attributes.
For buyers, Alibaba Group uses its data to create a better shopping
experience by personalizing search results and shopping
recommendations.
Youku Tudou and Alimama will also jointly establish a Marketing
Innovation Lab in addition to the Big Data cooperation. This lab
will aim to drive development of innovative online video marketing
techniques and products such as View and Buy and
Merchants' Video Channel. As indicated by the name "View
and Buy," a consumer can click on merchandise that appears in
the video they're viewing and make a purchase without interrupting
the playback. The Merchants' Video Channel gives merchants an
opportunity to market their products and services by themselves
where they can create fun videos to promote their products, get
consumers' attention and trigger purchasing actions.
The two marketing techniques/products are a result of the
seamless collaboration between Youku Tudou and Alibaba Group. Youku
Tudou leverages video viewing behavior data to help merchants
identify and advertise during the right timing and context in
videos and to find and recommend relevant products to specific
consumers.
About Youku Tudou Inc.
Youku Tudou Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) is China's leading Internet television company.
Its Youku and Tudou Internet television platforms enable users to
search, view and share high-quality video content quickly and
easily across multiple devices. Its Youku brand and Tudou brand are
the most recognized online video brands in China. Youku Tudou's American depositary
shares, each representing 18 of Youku Tudou's Class A ordinary
shares, are traded on the NYSE under the symbol "YOKU."
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group's mission is to make it easy to do business
anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce
company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded
in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology
infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the
power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct
commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other
businesses.
Alibaba Group's major businesses include:
- Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China's largest online shopping
destination
- Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China's largest online third-party platform
for brands and retailers
- Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China's most popular online group buying
marketplace
- Alitrip (www.alitrip.com), a leading online travel booking
platform
- AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace
for consumers to buy directly from China
- Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China's largest global online wholesale
platform for small businesses
- 1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale
marketplace in China
- Alibaba Cloud Computing (www.aliyun.com), a leading provider of
cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs
Alibaba Group also provides payment and/or escrow services on
its marketplaces through its contractual arrangements with Ant
Financial Services Group, a related company of Alibaba Group which
operates Alipay (www.alipay.com).
Through China Smart Logistics (or Zhejiang Cainiao Supply Chain
Management Co., Ltd.), a 48%-owned affiliate, Alibaba Group
operates a central logistics information system that connects a
network of express delivery companies in China.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Youku Tudou
Jay Chen
jaychen@youku.com
(+8610) 5885-1881 x 7161
Alibaba Group
Robert H. Christie
bob.christie@alibaba-inc.com
+1 917 860 9410
Florence Shih
florenceshih@hk.alibaba-inc.com
+852 2215 5114
For investor enquiries, please contact:
ryan.cheung@youku.com
investor@alibaba-inc.com
SOURCE Youku Tudou Inc.