SA support for 46664 outshines

The end of this month will see big-name international artists, including the likes of Anastacia, Beyonc`e, Bono, Johnny Clegg, Queen and The Corrs, converging on Cape Town for a live music-concert first, in which only the boundaries of technology will limit the reach of the event and its associated cause to stop the prevalence of AIDS.

The live event, which will be simultaneously broadcast on the Internet to billions of viewers around the world, is also bringing about an unparalleled convergence of cellular, Internet and broadcast technologies to make AIDS everyone`s business.

Tiscali, the exclusive online distributor of 46664, will broadcast the Webcast in the 16 countries in which the company operates, and is partnering with major ISPs across the US and Asia to provide the enabling infrastructure for this multimedia platform that will drive the cause on a global scale.

But the Internet has added yet a further dimension to the equation, in that it is possible to obtain an instant and vivid indication of public interest, support and donations off the 46664.com site, being hosted by Tiscali.

"As the official Internet partner of this global event, we are able to give voice to the growing support and interest generated so far in the 'Give one minute of your life to stop AIDS` campaign. We are also able to gauge exactly where the best response is coming from," says Diego Massidda, CEO of Tiscali SA.

He says worldwide support is growing, and SA is right up there with public response almost double that in France and the Netherlands. "For a small country like SA to generate twice the traffic than France is quite an anomaly."

International statistics since the launch of the campaign has shown 73 000 unique users on the 46664.com Web site. Traffic is coming in from more than 150 countries, with more than 4 000 unique users a day.

"Most countries have taken a number of steps to bolster the promotion of the event, with the exclusive aim of generating as much money as possible for the benefit. Looking to where the traffic is coming from, we see that a number of countries, so far, are doing a fine job of it," Massidda says.

Visits per country for November show Italy taking the overall lead, with the third biggest response coming from SA.

A number of initiatives have given rise to good online response. In SA, local artists performing at the concert will be lined up for live online chats at www.tiscali.co.za, talking more specifically about their support of the initiative. Watershed participated last week, and artists confirmed for the following weeks include Ready D and Zola, with Johnny Clegg and Danny K to follow.

With advertising and promotional campaigns under way and global communications providers working together towards the cause, a far greater global stir-up is expected in the coming weeks.