Automotive Enthusiast Web Sites Join Forces to Form BVerticals Inc.
17 April 2000
Automotive Enthusiast Web Sites Join Forces to Form BVerticals Inc.
'e-co/op' Provides Technology, Marketing Economies of Scale
CORTE MADERA, Calif., April 17 PickupTruck.com ,
VWVortex.com , FreshAlloy.com and AudiWorld.com , four top automotive
enthusiast Web sites, have joined forces to form BVerticals, the Internet's
first "e-co/op."
An e-co/op is a group of grass roots, vertical enthusiast Web sites with
existing traffic and communities. The sites team together to dominate a
particular niche -- such as automobiles -- and leverage economies of scale
across personnel and information technology requirements. As the e-co/op
grows, partnering with other existing enthusiast Web sites, each new member's
Web site is plugged into a common back-end infrastructure yet retains its
original look, feel and URL. Most importantly, each new partner brings a
loyal consumer following to the partnership.
BVerticals provides the technology and business infrastructure, allowing
its partners to do what they do best -- develop content that meets the needs
of their highly targeted niche audiences. BVerticals is currently in
negotiations with other popular best-of-breed enthusiast Web sites as it seeks
to add partners with loyal automotive enthusiast audiences.
John Gillies, currently CEO at PickupTruck.com, will also serve as CEO of
BVerticals.
"BVerticals will revolutionize the way enthusiast sites provide service to
their online communities," said Gillies. "At the same time, we will bring
together a large audience that is fiercely loyal to the member Web sites of
our 'e-co/op.' This will allow us to compete with large Internet portals by
sending informed shoppers who are ready to buy to manufacturer, dealer and
independent Web sites."
PickupTruck.com, VWVortex.com, FreshAlloy.com and AudiWorld.com attract
nearly 1 million enthusiasts and new visitors each month. The sites, because
of their frequently updated and original content, attract high levels of
repeat traffic with most visitors returning every eight days or sooner.
BVerticals' Web sites will function as vertical portals, funneling sales leads
to manufacturer Web sites, large dealer group Web sites, third party lead
generation Web sites and direct sales Web sites. PickupTruck.com and
FreshAlloy.com, for example, have agreements with CarsDirect.com, allowing
their community members to order, finance and arrange for delivery of a new
car or truck over the Web.
Tom Stallkamp, former vice chairman at Daimler-Chrysler and current vice-
chairman and CEO of MSX International, is a PickupTruck.com board member. He
also will hold a seat on the BVerticals board.
"Aggregating these enthusiast sites to gain economies and to increase the
consumer value in this marketplace makes sense," Stallkamp said. "The
Internet started with a business-to-consumer focus as the promise of an
interactive media took shape. Business-to-business was the next logical step.
Now it's clear that the Internet should be used for highly targeted
interactions, either with enthusiasts, consumers, or businesses, to maximize
the delivery of relevant and timely information."
About BVerticals Inc.
BVerticals, an "e-co/op," is a growing partnership of grass roots
enthusiast Web sites. It provides economies of scale in technology, marketing
and business services, and provides outstanding content to attract loyal,
repeat audiences. By aggregating other enthusiast Web sites, BVerticals
promises to have one of the largest, most loyal audiences in the automotive
Web site industry.
About PickupTruck.com ( http://www.pickuptruck.com )
PickupTruck.com is the premier online community for pickup truck
enthusiasts. First launched in 1995, PickupTruck.com provides everything
"pickup" to the online community, including information, news, dialog and
products. The site includes information about all types of pickup trucks,
coverage of major truck shows, discussion groups, and e-commerce capabilities.
About VWVortex.com ( http://www.vwvortex.com )
For more than three years, the VWVortex World Wide Web site has been the
definitive and progressive online source for the latest information on
Volkswagen brands. With over 10 million hits each month, from more than
200,000 unique visitors, VWVortex is uniquely positioned to offer the next
generation in automobile enthusiast media. It combines the best in design and
publication with the technology and up-to-the-minute capabilities of the
Internet. The site is devoted to enthusiasts of Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley,
Lamborghini, Seat and Skoda.
About FreshAlloy.com ( http://www.FreshAlloy.com )
FreshAlloy.com, is the leading online community catering to Nissan auto
enthusiasts. FreshAlloy.com offers the latest auto news, international
industry development, discussion groups and conducts insightful interviews
with top-notch experts. FreshAlloy.com brings its users a fresh new attitude
and brings out the personality of the brands it covers.
About AudiWorld.com ( http://www.audiworld.com )
AudiWorld.com got its roots in 1996 as a website called A4.Org devoted to
the Audi A4 enthusiast. As Audi continued setting record sales increases,
A4.Org expanded its coverage to include the full range of Audi products and
was renamed AudiWorld.com. Today AudiWorld provides tremendous content and
community to an extremely loyal Audi enthusiast readership that exceeds over
300,000 people each month.
What They're Saying About BVerticals, Inc.
Michael Levine, Founder of PickupTruck.com
"The e-co/op concept will provide an even better product for the
automotive enthusiasts that are loyal to the BVerticals' Web sites. Each
partner provides outstanding editorial content and other features that are
popular with our information hungry community members. With a central
resource for behind-the-scenes business functions, each site can focus energy
on creating even better enthusiast Web sites."
Jamie Von Druska, Founder of VWVortex.com
"The partnership will allow PickupTruck.com, VWVortex.com, FreshAlloy.com,
AudiWorld.com and other niche sites to provide our online enthusiasts with
more of what they love - great information about their favorite vehicles.
Sharing talent and technology with other 'e-co/op' members will help all of us
grow and prosper."
Sina Ghaboussi, Co-Founder of FreshAlloy.com
"The most important thing about the BVerticals e-co/op will be its long-
term benefit to automotive enthusiasts. As a combined entity, these grass
roots Web sites will be able to attract audience and advertisers that will
make us a leading automotive Internet destination. At the same time, we will
retain our grass-roots approach, meeting the unique demands of each of our
niche communities."
Jason Teller, Founder of AudiWorld.com
"The exciting part of the e-co/op model is that it provides for a clearly
branded community experience within each vertical while enabling the
enthusiast Web sites themselves to leverage off a common business and
technical framework. BVerticals ultimately allows each Web site to
concentrate on its core competency of providing world-class enthusiast
coverage."