Digital Expression

How long before Facebook Credits (FBCs) becomes a payment option across the web? With Facebook Connect continuing to spread quickly across the web, FBCs could become the micropayment system that opens up revenue opportunities for media owners wanting to make an income with their premium content. This is about making it easy for consumers to buy what you are selling.   We should pay attention to FBCs because:

1. Virtual Currency Monetisation is a trend that is becoming an industry unto itself.  In fact, South East Asia is at the forefront:

The QQ coin is challenging the status of the renminbi [yuan] as the only legitimate currency in China.

 - Public prosecutor Yang Tao, AsiaTimes Online, December 5, 2006 / The Rise of Virtual Currency

2. Facebook, through the Open Graph, is becoming ubiquitousness across the global web.

In the coming digital sphere, without a 'gold' standard, consumers could vote with their thumbs.

- Brett King, FinExta, November 4, 2010

One opportunity could be for retail chains to accept FBCs as a payment method in-store.  This could work via a charge card or loyalty card. Now i'm not suggesting issuing another piece of plastic to your customers, rather i'm suggesting adding functionality to what they already have.

Facebook Credits  in your eCommerce Business

The best eCommerce companies offer a frictionless checkout process.  Multiple payment options that cater to individual preferences is an essential part of this. I have made a countless number of online purchases using PayPal because the process was just so easy.  Firstly, I did not have to waste time signing up for another website and secondly, I did not have to worry about the safety of my credit card details.

For eCommerce retailers, it's also important to consider the positive effects of using FBCs to their ranking in the increasingly important social graph, i.e It's another point of intersection between the retailer, the consumer and Facebook.

Facebook Credits for Airlines

Imagine something along the lines of "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" sponsored by an airline.  The player is rewarded for completing tasks that are favorable to the brand and in return, earn Facebook Credits, or even better, points in the airlines frequent flyer program.  Gamification.org breaks down the elements of the formula that make games like Farmville so successful.   The point is that there is a tried and tested formula for creating a success social game like Farmville or Mafia Wars, and it can be adapted to the tastes of any niche audience.  We can already earn miles through non-flight activities, at the places we shop, eat and sleep, so why not somewhere that we play online ?

Source

CityVille demonstrates the in-game advertising opportunity, where you enable any player to include your brand in their city and they can open up more branches in their friends' cities.  That's potentially putting your brand in-front of a prospect every time they log in to play, which tends to be everyday of the week.

With Internet access at 35,000 feet coming of age, another possibility is for an airline to accept Facebook Credits as payments for upgrades or other rewards.  Casual gamers on Facebook and other virtual environments are already used to spending credits to buy virtual goods and services. If these people also like to fly, then this could be an especially good fit.  Low cost carriers could even use FBCs to collect on-board payments for entertainment, food and beverages.

Note that the opportunity is not limited to Facebook.  It extends to any social network or virtual world operating their own virtual currency.

First there was Facebook Connect and then the LIKE button proliferated across websites. Facebook Credits is a natural next step in the integration process.

If you're launching a new product or have a new TV commercial, there are compelling reasons to propagate it across the internet and cultivate regional online video communities across the Asia Pacific.

1. It's engaging, entertaining and easy to share.
2. Television is becoming a mainstream gateway to the internet and we will see more long-form and premium content become available.  For example: Home Project
3. 90% of Chinese internet users have access to broadband.
4. 1/2 of the world's internet population resides in APAC.

You could use Tubemogul.com to propagate it out to video aggregation sites across the globe or leverage your existing consumer touchpoints (like email or your website) to cultivate a community on a specific site like Youtube. You can also step outside the mould and try to use video remarkably like Esprit.com.  Or rather than a broad distribution strategy, you might instead choose to develop your presence on just one video site that dominates your target market.  One innovation on Youtube is the ability to add your own custom clickthrough links like in this example,  so as well as experiencing and sharing your video, the viewer can visit your website or any other online property that you specify, like at the end of this video:

 Done right, this can be a great customer acquisition and brand engagement campaign.

source source 2 (Checkout Comscore's Video Metrix for some market intelligence or take a look at Alexa.com's country specific site rankings for guidance on what video sites to focus on.)

YouTube.com, is the predominant destination across most of the Asia-Pacific, but did you know that there are country specific portals that should be factored into your planning? For example, in China the top three video properties are Youku, Tudou Sites and 56.com.

In Japan, you would also factor Dwango Co., Ltd. (which includes Nicovideo.jp) and NTT Group (which includes OCN.ne.jp) into your plans.

In Singapore and Malaysia Facebook is also a significant online video destination.

Tudou Sites ranked second in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.