• by Lynn Russo , September 22, 2006

If you're as frustrated with e-mail spam and bouncebacks as most marketers today, here's something to counteract your slipping open rates. Zusa, a push content tool from Ryarc Media Systems (Ryarc.com), drives targeted information directly to your customers' desktops.

Developed in Sydney, Australia, by Ryarc founder and CEO Fergal O'Ceallaigh, a former Microsoft employee, Zusa is a dynamic screensaver that works in real time and handles all formats, including Flash, PowerPoint, JPEG, WMV, even e-mail.

The desktop tool creates a channel using mostly existing content. After a 30-second installation, users can click to get the full-screen content of a relevant subject or to visit a Web site. Channels can cater to sub-categories of any genre.

Zusa allows companies to create a sense of community by narrowcasting only the information that is relevant to them, such as targeting in-office communications by division or segmenting customer messages by interest group or geographic location.

"Zusa is ideal for large communities with a like-minded affinity but needing to be stroked on the way," says spokesman Neil Gamble.

Ryarc Campaign Manager operates 24 hours a day and includes scheduling, billing, and tracking capabilities.

Pricing remains in the exploratory stages, but will be somewhere in the vicinity of $1 per screen per month, Gamble says.