TORONTO, CANADA and NEW YORK, NEW YORK — (Marketwired) — 11/25/13 — Intertainment Media Inc. (“Intertainment Media”) (TSX VENTURE: INT) (OTCQX: ITMTF) (FRANKFURT: I4T) is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Yappn Corp (OTCBB: YPPN) (“Yappn” or the “Company”) () is launching a new set of global online tools to provide integrated services for eCommerce, social media and online customer support initiatives in up to 70 languages providing brands with the ability to engage customers and create global revenue platforms.
Yappn-s eCommerce and social engagement tools and support services are focused on emerging brands that are generating $2 million to $100 million USD per year in online sales and are working to expand their marketplace activities to include additional languages, beginning with 1 to 3 primary alternative languages and expanding offerings to include additional languages. In the US, Yappn will initially provide Spanish resources, which makes up 62% of non-English speaking households, or approximately 37 Million people. Online Spanish surfers represent approximately 165 Million people globally, growing over 800% in the past 10 years, while English online users grew at just over 300% according to Internet World Stats.
Yappn delivers enhanced services to a client-s current eCommerce platform, not requiring any changes to infrastructure, providing multiple product catalogues, shopping carts and checkout facilities that are language focused and supported through real time complimentary social media content in combination with a rich data analytics model allowing brands to learn and respond to global customer demands.
Yappn-s business model is to partner with brands and work on a percentage of revenue ranging from 12% to 15% of the value of the base transaction, plus professional services. Yappn has negotiated initial deals with 2 eCommerce consulting agencies focused on emerging brands and a number of direct brand engagements.
“The biggest obstacle to global eCommerce growth is not the product or fulfillment. It is the ability to engage your customer in their language and provide an exceptional experience through the catalog, shopping cart and check out that is easy to understand and enhances the brand experience,” commented Mr. Todd Kane, eCommerce industry veteran and Digital Marketing Director at Rocksmith / Wu Tang Brand Ltd. “Yappn has solved these issues without adding additional layers for the brand to work through, making it easy to implement and providing a 360 degree engagement platform.”
While the US leads the world in eCommerce, adding up to 4 million new customers per year and generating an estimated $419 Billion according to eMarketer, Europe, the Middle East, Africa continue to grow and Asia Pacific eCommerce is expected to surpass the US in 2014 and continue to outpace US growth in the years to come. Today, over 86 Million people in the US alone use their smartphones to shop online.
Social media has significant influence on eCommerce as over 30% of online purchases directly resulted from some social engagement activities according to Social Media Today and Business Insider. Facebook and Pinterest combine for over 56% of socially generated eCommerce showcasing the influence and power of socially engaged eCommerce.
In the US alone, over 66 Million people, or 21% of the population do not speak English at home according to the 2011 Government Census. Internationally, in the past 10 years, English has been the 7th fastest growth language outpaced by key languages like Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian. Today, over 67% of all people on the Internet surf in a language other than English.
“Emerging entertainment, sports and apparel brands in the US and around the world are challenged by the ability to reach a growing domestic and global audience that doesn-t speak English and engaging that audience can be increasingly resource intensive,” said Mr. Jeremy McCassy, Alternative Marketing Manager and Director of Entertainment Marketing at Oakley. “Yappn provides high growth brands with the tools and services to deliver a truly global experience on a scale not previously seen.”
Following on the heels of the launch of several key social integration tools that bring together Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr and Tumblr in a single social environment for brands, Yappn is enabling online sellers with the ability to launch eCommerce programs in multiple languages together with integrated social media and customer service programming.
Yappn provides a “one stop” commercial solution for a brand-s global outreach, eCommerce and social media consolidation efforts, allowing consumption in multiple languages. The increased time spent on Yappn brand pages, which can be part of the Yappn network and / or be private labelled on their own digital platforms, allows companies the ability to create additional engagement, commerce and interactive opportunities to further provide users with value.
Yappn continues to develop and plan the launch of additional revenue driven feature sets. Each new feature set is built on a prime revenue driver for Yappn as it continues to work with clients and their agencies to develop new deployment tools and programs to reach an expanding global audience.
“Empowering global eCommerce is a revenue growth opportunity for Yappn. Many emerging brands are hampered by resources and the ability to engage customers in languages other than English. Yappn-s approach to solving the challenge combines our tools, professional services and technology experience providing our clients with a holistic approach to quickly and seamlessly engage a wider audience and increase the brand experience, engagement and sales,” commented David Lucatch Founder and CEO of Yappn. “Yappn-s benefits from an ongoing portion of the accretive sales transaction and additionally provides customers with enhanced analytics, social media and customer support creating a winning dynamic for all participants and provides a long term source of revenue.”
The Yappn chat platform (chat.yappn.com) allows users to create and moderate discussion rooms based on interest topics where users can view content and chat in their native language in real time. Each user-s experience is individualized to their native language allowing for a global free flow of communication without a language barrier. Revenue in the chat platform is driven by commercial branding and sponsorship programs, private chat boards and other upcoming upgrades in the future.
Learn more at .
Like the Yappn Facebook page and follow Yappn on Twitter: @YappnCorp.
About Intertainment –
Intertainment is one of Canada-s leading technology incubators and is focused on developing, nurturing and investing in both North American and global technologies and companies that provide technology solutions for brands and consumers alike. Intertainment also owns and operates a number of key properties and has investments in leading edge technologies and social media platforms, including Yappn Corp (). For more information on Intertainment and its properties, please visit
Intertainment is headquartered in the Toronto, Canada region, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and San Mateo, CA and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “INT” (TSXV: INT) and in the US on the OTCQX Market under the symbol “ITMTF”. Intertainment is also traded in Europe on the unofficial market of the Frankfurt Exchange through the XETRA trading platform under the symbol “I4T”.
About Yappn Corp. –
Yappn provides people and brands the power to be social, conduct commerce and communicate freely without a language barrier. Creating successful digital programs in today-s changing global environment requires the ability to communicate in your customer-s language. Today, over 66 Million people in the US don-t speak English at home and over 67% of worldwide online users surf in a language other than English.
Yappn Chat allows people to meet, chat, engage and consumer content based on their interests and not where they live, their friends or the language that they speak.
Yappn has developed cost effective unique and proprietary technology tools and services that create dynamic solutions that enhance a client-s social media and eCommerce platforms. Yappn also provides complementary programming for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, Pinterest and Tumblr.
While this sounds simple, creating a unique and dynamic social environment that transcends devices, platforms and languages takes a lot of experience and finesse. Yappn creates amplification for media messaging and eCommerce while increasing a global footprint all in real-time without the interference of cross language issues.
Our clients constantly think up unique ways to use Yappn that extends their growing social audience, while increasing brand engagement with today-s multi-lingual audience. We look forward to the growing need to support global amplification and provide our clients with the best services in the industry.
Yappn Corp. is publicly in the US on the OTCBB – symbol “YPPN”
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law, including statements relating to the expected use of proceeds of the Offering.
Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “potential”, “proposed” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Actual timelines associated may vary from those anticipated in this news release and such variations may be material. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulators. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management-s estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Intertainment Media Inc.
David Lucatch
CEO
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