Salon.com ((Nasdaq: SALN), http://www.salon.com), a leading Internet media company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to launch a co-branded site with VacationCoach.com (http://www.vacationcoach.com), a Web site offering customized travel advice. Coming later this month, the site will provide Salon.com users with VacationCoach.com's personally tailored travel recommendations and customized travel tools. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Says Michael O'Donnell, CEO and president of Salon.com, "We are delighted to have VacationCoach.com on board as our partner. Their dynamic personalization capabilities and expert travel advice provide a great added value to our users."
Rob Roberts, Head Coach of VacationCoach.com, said: "Salon.com is a great marketing partner. They understand our branding objectives and have provided us with a unique customer-acquisition venue, which showcases our custom-fit travel planning tools, content and expert advice capabilities. When we first launched our test campaign a few months ago, it was so successful and produced such a significant click-through rate that we decided to enhance our joint offering."
The co-branded site will utilize some of VacationCoach's vacation planning tools, including "Express Request," which helps users decide where they want to travel; "Destination Check," for users who have a place in mind but need to plan the travel details; and "Someplace Similar," to find new places like the ones they enjoyed visiting previously. The terms of the agreement also include rotating banners throughout the Salon network, as well as a VacationCoach.com branded presence in its premier shopping site, SalonPlus.
ABOUT SALON: Founded in 1995, Salon.com is a leading Internet media company that produces a network of 12 award-winning, original content sites; maintains Salon Shop, an e-commerce gateway; and hosts two communities -- Table Talk and The WELL. In May 2000, Salon acquired MP3Lit.com, the pioneering Web site offering quality spoken word and audio literature recordings in MP3 and Real Audio formats. Over 450 companies have advertised on Salon.com including IBM, Lexus, Microsoft, EDS, AskJeeves, Virgin Megastore Online, Kimberly Clark and Intel. In December 1999, Salon.com announced a content and equity agreement with Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation and NBC. Strategic distribution partners include America Online (AOL), Reuters, TheStreet.com, CNN.com and CNET as well as wireless innovators AvantGo and Rocket eBooks. Salon.com content is also syndicated to print publications through United Features Syndicate. The site had 2.5 million unique visitors in June 2000 as audited by ABC Interactive, a subsidiary of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
ABOUT VACATIONCOACH.COM
Headquartered in Maynard, Mass., VacationCoach.com (http://www.VacationCoach.com) is a unique Personal Advice Technology provider, enabling the next generation of travel and lifestyle Web sites, and its own expert travel planning advice service, by offering dynamic, expert personalization functionality as well as tailored recommendations for vacation destinations based on consumers' interests and lifestyles. Winner of an eTravelWorld award for "Best Niche Travel Site," VacationCoach has married personalization technology and proprietary expert-system software with booking mechanisms, so that its site and VacationCoach partner sites can deliver uniquely customized travel assistance. Additional VacationCoach partners include WorldRes, WGBH MemberCard and WCRB.
SOURCE Salon.com
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