REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 1, 2000 — The MSN® network of Internet services, which helps consumers get more from the Web, and The Knot Inc., the leading online wedding resource, today announced a relationship that will make The Knot the premier wedding content provider for MSN.
Under the new agreement, The Knot and MSN, which was visited by more than
210 million visitors in the month of September, will build a weddings area to be featured on MSN WomenCentral. The new weddings area on MSN will provide to-be-weds with direct access to the superb wedding content and services of The Knot.
“There are nearly 2.5 million weddings each year, and we want brides to consider MSN their home on the Web for wedding planning resources,”
said Deanna Sanford, lead product manager for MSN.
“Together with The Knot, we will offer future brides an easy-to-use wedding resource where they can feel confident that all their planning needs will be met.”
The new weddings area on MSN ( http://www.msn.com/ ) will go live at the end of November and will feature editorial content from The Knot, as well as links to The Knot’s suite of interactive planning tools, including a gallery of 20,000 gown photos, a budgeter, guest-list manager and a wedding checklist.
Working with MSN is not entirely new to The Knot. All summer, The Knot worked hand in hand with MSNBC.com, the online portion of Microsoft’s relationship with NBC, to promote its 12-week interactive wedding-planning series with NBC’s
“Today”
show, called
“Today Ties The Knot.”
Since June, an average of 145,000 visitors logged on each week to vote for items to be included in the on-air wedding of the
“Today Ties The Knot”
couple.
“Our goal at The Knot is to be everywhere a bride and groom turn for wedding-planning information,”
said David Liu, CEO of The Knot.
“Through our relationship with MSN, we will be further expanding our brand by delivering our extensive content and interactive tools to the service’s audience of to-be-weds.”
About The Knot
The Knot (Nasdaq
“KNOT”
), the leading online wedding destination, combines comprehensive content and an active online community with wedding-related commerce to serve more than 1 million members. The company’s online sites provide extensive resources to help couples plan their wedding and future lives together as a couple. The Knot also provides certain offline services to the wedding market such as a series of books with Random House’s Broadway Books, a semiannual gown magazine called The Knot Wedding Gowns, and Wedding Pages, regional wedding magazines in over 50 U.S. markets. The Knot is based in New York and has several other offices across the country.
About MSN
MSN gives consumers a new home on the Internet – a central place where they can get everything they need from the Web and make the most out of their time online. With more than 210 million visitors in September, the MSN integrated network of content and services is the most popular destination on the Internet. MSN is available in 33 markets and in 17 languages – a broader global presence than any other portal. MSN takes advantage of the Microsoft® .NET Platform to offer leading services, any time, any place and on any device, with the most integrated and personalized user experience for communications, search, shopping, personal finance and entertainment. MSN Internet Access and the recently introduced MSN Explorer offer the quickest, most personal and exciting ways to get on to and take advantage of the Web. Best-of-breed services include the MSN Hotmail® Web-based e-mail service, the world’s largest e-mail system; MSN Messenger Service, one of the fastest growing instant messaging services on the Web; MSN Search, the second most popular online search service; MSN Mobile, the customizable wireless information service; the award-winning MSN MoneyCentral™
online personal finance guide; MSN eShop, the one-stop online shopping resource; and MSN Custom Web Sites, the easy way to share information on the Web. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
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