Multimedia email marketer to team with Sandpiper

Sandpiper Networks and RadicalMail today will announce a partnership aimed at the nascent field of multimedia email marketing.

Under the deal, Los Angeles-based RadicalMail has agreed to use Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Sandpiper to deliver its streaming features, which can be activated from within an email message without the need for special software such as plug-ins or attached files.

RadicalMail, an offshoot of Streamedia, was formed in April and has yet to receive its first venture financing round. Still, its technology has drawn attention as the possible next wave in Internet advertising--a somewhat pressing concern for online businesses given that the dominant banner ads have so far failed to generate much excitement.

In turning to Sandpiper and its Footprint content delivery network, RadicalMail hopes to improve the efficiency and reliability of its email streaming, particularly in large-scale advertising campaigns that would blanket millions of in-boxes with audio, graphics and video feeds.

RadicalMail vice president of business development Andrew Shikiar said the deal is not exclusive.

"We expect to be in a position of getting millions of streaming requests at once," he said. "We can't afford to count on just one provider."

Nevertheless, Scott Yara, Sandpiper's vice president of marketing, said the deal is a perfect fit.

"RadicalMail allows an entirely new advertising format," he said. "The next question you need to ask is what's going to make that reliable and cost-effective."