News
Zed: We’re just getting started
Stuart O'Brien Apr 9 2008, 11:47am
Spain’s D2C mobile content giant targets $850 million revenue in 2008.
Zed will spend 35 million euros on R&D this year, and increase its staff count from 750 to 1,300.
The D2C specialist revealed no let-up in its growth plans after posting 2007 revenues of $545 million. Instead, Zed will invest heavily in headcount, product development and marketing as it projects $850 million revenue in 2008.
Zed will seek new alliances with content companies like those already formed with AOL and online video specialist Metacafe. The company’s CEO Xavier Perez Dolset says Zed aims to have sealed ‘seven or eight’ deals by the end of the year.
It will launch a new version of its Station app, with improved email, IM and video sharing features. It will also ramp up virtual world Zed City, with new features and strategic partnerships on product placement.
Zed has no shortage of products in which to embed commercial messages. Perez Dolset said: “We marketed 1,000 products relating to ‘love’ on Valentine’s Day alone. Every day the consumer is learning more about the mobile lifestyle. That equals more and more opportunities for us.”
Zed’s products are virtually all internally developed. And this autonomy makes it unlikely Zed will be sold any time soon in the way that, say, News Corp bought Jamster.
Perez Dolset added: “Most approaches we get are from companies that want us to make them look good. We’re not interested. Unlike them, we’re not just looking at the next quarter.”
