With Facebook's recent announcement that there are now 90 million users worldwide and 24,000 applications running on the Facebook platform its no surprise that more interesting methods of monetizing that popularity are appearing daily.
FriendFolio, the Facebook application where you can buy and sell your Facebook friends (and make new ones too), is launching an innovative advertising programme to what they refer to as 'select brands'.
Purposely avoiding the usual Internet ad strategy of bland textual or banners, FriendFolio is to offer branded 'gifts' to select brands that FriendFolio users can then give to each other. These gifts are then displayed on the reciepents FriendFolio profile and can if required contain a click through to the brand advertisers web site or promotion.
The gifts have extra value as brand promotions as they are first chosen by the giver who uses FriendFolio dollars to make a purchase, an act pertaining to the gift having a value. It is then received by the recipient and can be viewed by everyone that visits the recipient's profile. This sequence has a higher value in terms of branding reinforcement than a text based ad that is likely to be ignored, as the brand has a positive and a valuable association following these actions.
FriendFolio believe that this method of advertising may initially be more popular with FMCG brands or luxury brands as the concept of giving a friend a can of Red Bull, a jar of Marmite, jewellery, a designer handbag, perfume or an upmarket beverage might be easier to relate to than the gift of a new Chevrolet or credit card. There is also more than a hint that the first big brand to come on board may do so at little or no cost.
A spokesperson from FriendFolio's owners BAPPZ says, "The earliest adopters will naturally benefit from the additional novelty value and positive PR spin off." That of course is a trade off as later advetisers will get greater coverage if this Facebook application is to continue to grow at the current rate. However, as companies and brands look for alternatives to Google Adwords it's clear that initiatives like this by smaller niche players that can offer a positive brand influence as well as direct sales by plugging into Facebook's network will be seen more and more. None of FriendFolio's close competitors, Human Pets, Naughty Friends and Friends for Sale have yet introduced a similar scheme.
