On the heels of its first-ever U.S. branding campaign, Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba reported a 33% drop in quarterly profits on Thursday. The decline was attributed partly to one-time charges,
while the company also said it was related to its "previously announced continuing investments in customers, people and technology to position the company for future growth." Quarterly revenue at the
company, meanwhile, increased nearly 24%.
Partly owned by Yahoo, the company recently embarked on a $30 million international marketing campaign, which includes efforts to break into the
U.S. market.
The company timed its marketing push to coincide the economic crisis, and its steady rebound.
"Our prediction that the economic crisis would be a catalyst for
greater penetration ... proved to be prescient and the strategic moves taken since late 2008 to prepare our customers and ourselves for further growth are paying off," said Alibaba chairman David Wei
Zhe.
The branding campaign includes event marketing, training webinars and video, print online and broadcast advertising, and a contest offering $100,000 in business grants to
entrepreneurs.
The company, which operates an online business-to-business platform, recently said it was also committed to spending between $200 million and $300 million on acquisitions.
Its management is reported interested in the areas mobile and payment technology.
Yahoo owns a 44% stake in the Alibaba Group, which controls Alibaba.com. Softbank Corp., Japan's
third-largest mobile-phone company, is the second-biggest shareholder with a roughly 29% stake.
To kick off its U.S. campaign, Alibaba launched a microsite designed to present consumer with
an "approachable, fun and engaging brand character" by featuring more rich media content with a focus on three key stories. Each one tells the story of a character who uses Alibaba.com to "Find It,
Make It or Sell It." A :30 second spot and a :90 second "mocumentary" for each character will be available on the microsite.