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iCricketer.com gears up for Cricket
World Cup 2003
iCricketer.com, South Africa's leading provider of syndicated
cricket news, has announced a change in strategic focus. Hamza
Farooqui, group chairman and CEO of the site, believes the new
direction will serve a two-fold purpose; refining the quality of
material available to iCricketer.com consumers and media partners,
while at the same time providing opportunities for advancement in
the business-to-business market.
Having established itself as a key player in the B2C delivery of
content, iCricketer.com now has its sights set on delivering up to
the minute cricket news to the desktops of users in the corporate
sector. These live scorecards are to be liveried in the client's
colours, and will provide the opportunity for advertisers to target
highly specific audiences.
Existing media partners can look forward to enjoying an enriched
relationship with iCricketer.com, while prospective advertisers or
sponsors will have opportunities for greater brand exposure than
ever before.
"We're doing what other South African media companies to date have
not - we're leveraging on technology convergence to advance the
overall objectives of our own organization. The value to our clients
and customers is tangible," says Farooqui, who first published
iCricketer.com from his bedroom as a teenager in 1996.
With the Cricket World Cup 2003 just around the corner, Farooqui
plans an aggressive drive towards B2B, with a focus on content
delivery across a multitude of media platforms. In addition to its
online and syndication interests, iCricketer.com is actively
exploring other new media technologies.
The key theme is that of fresh content delivered as accessibly as
possible, and a major part of iCricketer.com's initiatives in
content delivery innovation centre around mobile devices and
electronic billboards.
Despite the continued slump in South African IT fortunes,
iCricketer.com is a success story almost without parallel, says
Farooqui.
"iCricketer is one of the longest surviving start-ups that came out
of the original dot com boom. We're not owned or funded by a large
corporation, we've enjoyed consistent growth from humble beginnings,
and today, we have an excellent track record and reputation."
A redesigned Web site reflecting the
company's changing focus will be launched shortly.
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