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Web-hosting leader Hostway Corp. has begun using interactive features on its Web site to engage prospective customers with its brand for extended periods of time, and is using viral marketing techniques to attract new visitors to these features.

To promote its offer of doubled Web site capacity and bandwidth access, for example, Hostway recently launched an interactive game at its Web site, which has drawn thousands of players through a viral marketing campaign. Each week, the company awards a free Apple(R) iPod(R) music player to a randomly selected player of its online game, “Blast the Hassles of Web Hosting.” The game is available at http://www.hostway.com/blast .

In the game, players must keep users safe by using the Hostway spaceship to shoot down Hassles of Web Hosting, which are represented by the enemy spaceships: Poor Support, Bad Tools, Too Complex, and Unreliable. If a user is “hassled” by one of the enemy ships, players can rescue them by shooting down the enemy ship and catching them as they parachute to safety. The more points scored by the player, the more iPod prize-drawing entries the player earns.

“Our ‘Blast the Hassles’ game is an enjoyable way for people to get acquainted with Hostway,” said John Lee, Hostway vice president of marketing. “Over the years, our customers have come to expect a hassle-free Web-hosting experience from us, and that’s exactly what we give them. By giving new visitors to Hostway a chance to literally blast the hassles of hosting in an interactive game, we’re setting expectations — in a fun way — for a satisfying and productive experience for each new customer.”

The interactive game is also hitting home with customers. “Blast the Hassles is a great promotional idea. My friends will all be on Hostway.com trying to win an iPod,” said David Schrenk, the first Blast the Hassles of Hosting iPod winner. “Not only do I have a domain name and Web site, but I am in the computer consulting business and suggest hosting to clients all the time. I will make sure to refer customers to Hostway for hosting.”

Lee said the company will provide other, new interactive features on its site, and will promote them through untraditional tactics as well as through online advertising: “These kinds of features keep prospective customers at our site for relatively longer visits, which give us an opportunity to tell them our story in entertaining and effective ways.”

Earlier this year, Hostway increased the storage capacity and bandwidth of its three most popular shared-hosting packages as a tangible way of expressing customer appreciation. Current and new customers of Hostway’s Value Plus, Gold and Gold Plus hosting services automatically receive the new, expanded site capacity and bandwidth.

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