Meebo's New Marketing Platform Enables Brand Advertisers to Engage Individuals and Their Friends Across the Web
Charter Advertising Partners Include Havaianas, Sony Electronics,
Universal Pictures, and the Band Weezer
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Meebo, the Web's live communications platform, today announced a
new way to integrate brands into social media around the core premise
of user engagement and sharing. The company also entered into charter
marketing partnerships with top brands, media companies and musicians
including Havaianas, Sony Electronics, Universal Pictures, and the
band Weezer. Meebo will be presenting the Marketing Platform at The
Conversational Marketing Summit in New York on June 10.
Meebo will incorporate new end-user features to make it easier for
people to select, engage with, and share branded content with their
friends. These features will provide advertisers with a natural and
engaging way to be part of the Meebo experience. Further, Meebo will
give advertisers quantitative information on which user segments are
most engaged with their brand, and qualitative insights into factors
which drive sharing and conversation about the brand.
Founded in September 2005, Meebo provides instant messaging and
group chat to over 35 million people at Meebo.com and partner sites
across the Web. The average person at Meebo.com spends over two hours
on the site per day, and Meebo handles conversations consisting of
over 5 billion messages per month.
"Meebo was built from the ground up with an emphasis on user
experience," said Carter Brokaw, chief revenue officer, Meebo. "We
serve over 35 million users per month, yet the power of social media
marketing lies in understanding how to best present a brand to
individuals. If Meebo facilitates authentic and engaging experiences
between an individual and a brand, we can leverage existing
communication channels that are consistent with the way that person
uses Meebo to IM and chat with their friends."
"Historically, it has been a challenge for brands to predictably
and measurably maximize the consumption and sharing of their content.
Meebo's integrated, non-interruptive method of delivering and
distributing content creates a positive user experience. We're excited
to be among the first to try Meebo's structured and accountable
approach," said Ian Schafer, CEO and Founder of Deep Focus.
Meebo's approach to presenting brands to users is to treat brands
and marketing experiences as valued content. The "brands as
content-providers" philosophy has tested extremely well - interaction
rates have been measured at 10x - 20x the interaction rates of ads on
comparable social media sites. By integrating brands into the sharing
that takes place naturally within Meebo's IM and chat room services,
Meebo is building a platform that is structured to leverage the viral
spread of branded content while also measuring the effect brands have
on the conversation.
Advertising Vehicles
Today, Meebo's ad platform consists of three key components. All
three provide unique and engaging channels for getting content into
Meebo:
Meebo MediaBar
The Meebo MediaBar will employ a variety of ways for users to
engage with a brand and share it with their friends. The MediaBar
expands from an IAB standard 728x90 on user initiation, enabling the
delivery of video, games, applications, news, and other interactive
content for users to play with, adopt, and share, all within the
context of the Meebo experience. Content can also be streamed from
rich media vendors and then shared by one Meebo user across the rest
of the Web. Marketers can offer Meebo users custom skins, buddy icons,
and other digital goods and applications that can then be shared with
others.
Meebo SparkAds
Meebo SparkAds are simple text ads that allow for responses to
drive traffic to a brand's site from SparkAds on Meebo and also from
Meebo-powered conversation rooms on other sites.
Link Sharing
Meebo users share over 75 million URLs per month. Meebo has
designed an enhanced method for discovering, saving, and sharing links
with friends. This system will also include link sharing for
advertiser content, increasing the utility of ads and the potential
for a cascading outreach through peer-referral.
33Across Partnership
Meebo has partnered with 33Across, a new social network analysis
platform to deliver enhanced social network based targeting and
reporting. The solution enables marketing to apply several unique
filters to better analyze and interpret campaign results. Marketers
will receive groundbreaking analysis of viral behavior and customized
"promoter" user segment information. The resulting data provides
insight into the characteristics of viral promoters and can accelerate
word of mouth.
VideoEgg Partnership
Meebo will also expand its relationship with VideoEgg by
integrating the online advertising pioneer's innovative AdFrames
product into the MediaBar and later, SparkAds for Meebo Rooms
syndication partners.
About Meebo, Inc.
Meebo is the Web's live communications platform and helps
individuals and partners connect live over the Web. Founded in
September 2005, over 35 million people use Meebo monthly, either at
Meebo.com, or through Meebo Rooms on partner sites. Meebo's investors
include Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and now JAFCO
Ventures, Time Warner Investments, and KTB Ventures. Visit meebo.com
to connect with friends live on the Web or for more information about
Meebo Ads. Or drop us a note at ads@meebo.com.
All brands, names, or trademarks mentioned in this document are
the property of their respective owners.
PR:
Dig Communications for Meebo
Michaela Wilkinson, 415-608-1778
mwilkinson@digcommunications.com
or
Marketers:
Meebo
Carter Brokaw
Chief Revenue Officer
ads@meebo.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
