The plight of branded apps and the future of social marketing
[Editor's note: So it turns out branded apps are a bust -- even if you're Nike or Coca-Cola. Below, Keith Rabois, vice president of strategy and business development at app maker Slide, explains why and gives big-name advertisers some much-needed advice.]
Procter & Gamble spent $2.4 billion on television advertising last year — but they didn’t spend it on the “I Love Pringles” show. When it comes to TV, brands understand that it’s smarter to integrate… Continue Reading
Appssavvy snags $3.1M to connect advertisers, app developers
Even though social networking companies serve tens of millions of users, there’s still bizarrely little advertising on the most popular sites. Many big agencies and brands have experimented, but they’re still looking for better ways to target the users they want.
The latest company hoping to serve these advertisers is Appssavvy, a startup that sells direct advertising space on social media applications like Flixster, MesmoTV, and Playfish — most of which have a presence on major… Continue Reading
Roundup: Microsoft cuts Xbox 360 prices in Japan, Sarah Palin gets a positive spin on Wikipedia and more
Here’s the latest action:
Microsoft cut prices for its Xbox 360 videogame consoles in Japan by as much as 30 percent — The software giant is trying to increase momentum in its most challenging market as the holiday season approaches.
VP candidate Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia bio was cleaned up — The fact that a single user made 30 positive edits to Palin’s bio shortly before the announcement that she’s John McCain’s running mate led to a flurry of online… Continue Reading
Facebook: Investors still pumping money into social networking applications
There has been speculation recently that investors are no longer putting money into social networking application companies. That is not the case.
Today at the f8 conference, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that more than $200 million in funding had already been invested in third-party applications to date. He announced that Flixster, a movie review application (and site), has just raised $6 million from investment bank Allen & Co. and other investors. Last night,… Continue Reading
Flixster, the social network for movie reviews, reportedly raises VC round
Flixster is a San Francisco Web site that lets you share movie ratings and reviews with friends.
It has reportedly raised a round of financing of $2 million or so from Silicon Valley’s Lightspeed Venture Partners, though we haven’t confirmed this. [Update: One authoritative, albeit off-record source tells VentureBeat the funding was more than $2M]
We haven’t mentioned this company before, but it is noteworthy for its scorching marketing tactics. By November, after just ten months of operation,… Continue Reading