Joint venture between easyEverything and WPP

23 Feb 2001

easyEverything, the chain of the world's largest Internet cafes founded by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has created a 50-50 joint venture with Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP advertising and marketing services group. easyEverything media sales (ee-ms) is responsible for all online, poster and instore advertising in easyEverything cafes and will give global brands online access to the Internet generation throughout the world.

easyEverything currently has 21 giant Internet cafes open 24 hours aday across seven western European countries and in New York. With future growth, including the opening of franchises, easyEverything will become a truly global company. To date the cost for corporate advertisers to reach their global audience online has been very large and the targeting of consumers indistinct. easyEverything owns its own computer screens in-store and so can deliver targeted and measurable online advertising that compliments or competes with the sites that consumers are viewing. In addition, this advertising is delivered to a young, consumer, Internet-wise audience in more and more countries around the world.

easyEverything media sales employs 20 staff who previously worked for easyEverything or Spafax Airline Network, a wholly owned subsidiary ofthe WPP Group plc. Spafax, representing over 120 media globally, specialise in airline on-board advertising and are therefore skilled in advertising to an audience contained within a specific environment,a determining factor in easyEverything creating a joint venture with WPP. ee-ms is responsible for all online advertising in the easyEverything cafes including free sites, bezel and channel advertising as well as the ambient in-store advertising.

easyEverything, as well as providing fast and cheap Internet access, has introduced the latest Microsoft software, webcams and Internet telephones into its latest stores and is retrofitting existing cafes. As consumer demands increase and become more sophisticated, easyEverything is providing more in order to cater for all consumer tastes, from the initial advertising through to online purchasing.

"Consumers want more from the Internet and we are making easyEverything live up to its name" said Stelios, the easyGroup chairman and founder of easyEverything. "With this ability to sell more advertising the cost of surfing for the consumer will come down, remaining faithful to the principles of the easy brand."