StarMedia Renews L'Oreal Pact

Latin-focused Web portal StarMedia Networks has renewed its multi-million dollar marketing and branding pact with French beauty products giant L’Oreal.

The New York-based StarMedia said the original deal, first struck in March 2000, would be expanded to roll out co-branded Web sites in Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The reworked deal runs through 2002. Financial terms were not disclosed.

For StarMedia, the extension marks a thumbs-up from one of its largest marketing partners — and a traditional on and offline advertiser with deep pockets.

With advertising dollars drying up, Web portals like StarMedia must attract long term sponsorship deals to keep operations afloat.

The deal provides L’Oreal, which counts Latin pop star Jennifer Lopez among celebrity spokespersons, with millions of new eyeballs and potential shoppers for its beauty products.

Specifically, it also offers L’Oreal a huge database to run direct marketing campaigns in Spanish and Portuguese-language countries. L’Oreal currently runs opt-in email newsletters, promotional email campaigns user surveys on StarMedia’s Cadamujer/Viamulher site.

In return, L’Oreal has put the Cadamujer.com URL on product packages in regions where the site is available.

“Since its initial launch in Mexico in March 2000, and subsequent roll-outs in Argentina, in Brazil and the US Hispanic markets, there have been approximately 20 million visits to Cadamujer/Viamulher,” StarMedia said.