We Are Social Asia Tuesday Tuneup #173
WeChat’s movie ticketing app raises $105M in series B funding
WeChat’s movie ticketing app, WePiao, has announced the completion of a US$105 million series B round of funding from investors such as real estate giant Wanda Group, Chinese film investment fund Wenzi Huasha, etc. Besides purchasing tickets, users can choose their seats and order drinks and popcorns via the app. With Alibaba’s recent acquisition of Yueke Software Engineering, this move appears to be a reaction to capture the burgeoning online movie ticket sales that has risen from 8% to 30% from 2013-2014 in China.
Facebook users in Asia still resistant to online and in-app purchases
Even though Facebook has reported a healthy growth in revenue and users across Asia, much of its revenue is still very much dependent on Facebook advertising. In Q1 2015, 96.7 percent of Facebook’s Asia revenue was from ads, up from 89.3 percent in Q1 2013. Compounding on this problem is the fact that rival messaging apps such as LINE and KakaoTalk, where in-app purchases generally happen, are dominating the Asian market compared to Facebook’s chat app.
Snapchat launches video ads
Snapchat has updated its offering for advertisers by unveiling 10-second ads that cost two cents per view, creating a way for publishers using the ‘Snapchat Discover’ feature to generate revenue. Announced at the Daily Mail/Elite Daily Digital Content NewFronts presentation last week, Daily Mail North America CEO Jon Steinberg described the move as “the next iteration of social content”. OK, Jon…
LinkedIn introduces analytics tool
LinkedIn has added a number of new features in recent years to enhance its offering, most notably a publishing platform which allows users to write and share blog posts about their industry or working lives. This week, LinkedIn announced this feature is getting an update in the form of an analytics tool to allow authors to better track the traffic their posts receive. Content creators will be able to see demographic information of their readers, as well as who liked and shared their posts.
Google+ launches ‘collections’ feature
The Google-owned social network Google+ has launched a new feature, ‘Collections’. It will allow users to curate and collect content around a chosen topic or interest, in a similar style to a Pinterest board. The company says the decision to launch the feature came from observing user behaviour; people were connecting around shared interests and wanted a better way to organise content relating to these. Early testers have created collections about video games, make-up and hacks.
Net-A-Porter creates new fashion social network
Luxury fashion website, Net-A-Porter, has created ‘Net Set’, a fashion focused social network allowing users to build personal profiles as well as follow celebrities, friends and popular trends. Users can also buy Net-A-Porter products through the network and upload their own images to be matched with products on the site. Related brands will be given their own profiles to create one-to-one conversations with their potential customers as well as personalised content.
Making milk a digital brand for Mother’s Day
The California Milk Processor Board, who brought us the well-known ‘Got Milk?’ campaign from 1993, has launched a modern-day celebration of milk and its association with Mums. #SongsForMums campaign ran this Sunday for Mother’s Day, asking fans to tweet the reason they loved their mum using the hashtag to receive a personalised short song response. They even recruited Ray Parker Jr. of Ghostbusters theme song fame to record the song clips, which were uploaded to SoundCloud and then pushed to social media.
Fisher Price creates awards to celebrate Mums
Also this Mother’s Day, Fisher Price gave fans a different way to show appreciation for their Moms in the form of #TheMOMMYS, a global parenting online awards festival. Fans could champion their deserving Mums by virtually nominating them via Twitter or Facebook and then choosing one of six toy-like 3D printed trophies to share.
Free pints for tweeting Londoners
To celebrate the brand’s local heritage, Fuller’s has launched a social media campaign offering free pints of London Pride beer to those living in the capital. For two weeks, fans who tweet at midday to @London_Pride and use the hashtag ‘#TweetAt12’ will receive a code, which they can take to any Fuller pub in the city to claim their reward. You can probably guess where we’ll be after work this week!
UK Brands keep it quiet on Election Day
Last week was the general election in the UK, but unlike most trending topics on Twitter, brands pretty much steered clear of the conversation. With politics such a controversial topic, it’s a sensible move by UK brands to stay quiet. However, that’s not to say a few didn’t have a go:
Today is the day. Don’t forget to vote! pic.twitter.com/aibjfKWXra
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) May 7, 2015
Bet the guys you voted for today didn’t have policies as good as this… #JustSaying #GE2015 pic.twitter.com/3fzFzeZxTo
— lastminute.com (@lastminute_com) May 7, 2015
Something else to consider today. Which dystopian political party would you vote for? https://t.co/jolYSQQvAL pic.twitter.com/JCcMALTmta
— Waterstones (@Waterstones) May 7, 2015
#DogsAtPollingStations pic.twitter.com/1HPsX0EQBk
— innocent drinks (@innocent) May 7, 2015
The #Election2015 has begun and Billie is the leader of our pack, he’s campaigning for more walkies! pic.twitter.com/RFdVKXdSld
— Cath Kidston (@Cath_Kidston) May 7, 2015