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March 14, 2008
Gaia Costs $25M per Year
Speaking at the McGraw Hill Media Summit this week on building brands in virtual worlds, Matt Bostwick, senior vice president of franchise development, MTV Music Group, told the audience that it's best to start small. Build a small team that can work quickly and then show off the results. Working as a smaller start-up, though, can still be expensive. "We spent $35 million to get started and an average of $25 million on an annual basis to maintain Gaia," said Gaia Online CEO Craig Sherman. Brands wanting in to Gaia, though, typically only have to spend in the $100,000 to $500,000 range. Earlier in the week, Joe Hyrkin, VP Sales & Business Development for Gaia, explained that costs range from about $100,000 to $200,000 for a one-month sponsorship, though Gaia is now beginning to see deals in the higher six figures.
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March 11, 2008
Quick Gaia Stat Shot
I just wrapped up liveblogging a great SXSW panel on Casual Multi-Player Online Games: Serious Revenues. A lot of the information was useful, but there were a few stand-out news bits about Gaia and virtual goods that I hadn't heard before: The company makes "in the range of 40%" of its revenue from pre-paid cards and is beginning to look at item decay, consumable items, and one-off animations to drive more purchases. With plans for an upcoming MMO, all that should come much more heavily into play. From the advertising side, the company typically draws $100,000 to $200,000 for a one-month sponsorship, but Hyrkin says the company is beginning to see deals in the higher six figures.
