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Microsoft relaunches MSN

Microsoft has relaunched its flagship portal MSN, and will now rely entirely on third parties for content.

MSN, which has been around since the 1990’s, has struck content deals with around 1,000 local and international publishers including Buzzfeed, The New York Times, Yomiuri Shimbun, The Guardian, The Hindustan Times, The Nation, Malaysian Insider and The Jakarta Post to supply the site.

MSN

Under the slogan, ‘Know more, do more’ the new MSN has been redesigned to work on any device, and with content that can be personalised to suit the user’s interests; it can feature tools such as hotel booking engines, shopping list generators and flight checkers, and social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Recruiting for MSN’s editorial teams has focused on “curators rather than creators” over the last year in preparation for the relaunch, Adam Anger, GM for Asia Pacific, Microsoft Advertising, told Mumbrella.

Preview versions of the site have gone live in India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. A preview of the new site can be seen here.

The revamp comes soon after Microsoft withdrew its long-running MSN Messenger instant messaging service, switching to Skype as its main messaging platform. The new MSN contains a link to Skype for instant messenger users.

The new MSN will enable brands to “connect across digital moments” through its integrated services, Anger added.

Marketing for the new-look MSN will initially be led by PR, with an above-the-line push to follow in the coming weeks.

The new MSN is one of the first major milestones after Satya Nadella took over from Steve Ballmer as CEO. 

MSN has 425 million users globally, and just under 100 million in Asia.

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