Friendster gets its game on
- Friendster formally relaunched, backed by using US$1.5m marketing campaign
- Sets bold goal to boom no of Malaysian contributors
FRIENDSTER, which was received through Asia’s leading e-fee and e-way of life issuer MOL Global Pte Ltd (MOL) in 2009, was officially re-released Thursday, May 17.
With around one hundred million users, MOL is touting the pioneer social networking website because the location’s biggest on line community.
In preserving with the truth that the Philippines is the maximum lively market for Friendster with 40% of general active customers, the legit relaunch there was held on April 25. The relaunch had an immediate impact in the Philippines with among a 15% and 20% soar in lively users a month after its relaunch.
MOL is looking at an aggressive leap in energetic users in Malaysia too, says its organization leader executive officer Ganesh Kumar Bangah, a power subsidized through an aggressive two-month US$1.5-million advertising and promoting finances for the Malaysian relaunch, in particular for virtual properties.
“We presently have 4 million active users in Malaysia and are targeting to boom this to ten million by means of the give up of this yr,” he says.
Ganesh is of the same opinion it is aggressive however says it is also “conceivable.” He is making a bet on the robust cognizance Friendster will have on games and social discovery as the honey that will draw new customers in.
While Friendster pioneered the social networking enterprise and paved the way for the emergence of different web sites, it misplaced its mojo alongside the manner and accordingly the stress became on for MOL to reposition Friendster to find its particular proposition a good way to stay relevant.
“By leveraging on Friendster’s most powerful asset in the form of its tens of millions of customers and harnessing MOL’s electricity as an e-payments and content distributor, we were able to successfully remodel Friendster to become a social discovery and gaming platform, host to the biggest on-line community in South-East Asia,” claims Ganesh (p.c).
Friendster is also inviting developers to use its APIs (application programming interfaces) to expand attractive apps for its 4 million users in Malaysia. MOL will integrate its Friendster Coins because the fee mechanism with a 30% cut of revenue.
MOL is also introducing two new assets, the Friendster iCafe, a cybercafe management device, and Friendster HotSpot.
Over 400 cybercafes are the usage of the Friendster iCafe and what is thrilling is the a hundred and fifty million movies and banner ads a month that is added via the system to cybercafé users.
The Friendster HotSpot is delivered on the F&B homes of the Berjaya Group, at Starbucks, Papa John Pizza and so forth. The landing page whilst customers log in may be Friendster.com and Ganesh see sturdy advertising potential right here.
“We have 1.five million month-to-month particular customers,” he factors out. From nowadays, they will be seeing Friendster.com after they log in to a Friendster HotSpot.
The task now is to power Friendster deeper into customers’ daily lives. Thus the slew of latest features brought to the site:
- Innovative and user-pleasant interface;
- Selections of avatars to fit your personas;
- Chat with current and new buddies via the Friendster Chat Application at the same time as gambling games on Friendster;
- Over 50 online games from eight distinctive style like function-gambling, strategy, simulations and card video games;
- Earn rewards through factors for each hobby within the web site consisting of adding buddies, attractive with pals, every day log-in or gambling any recreation;
- Simple, clean-to-attain virtual forex that may be used to buy virtual items, on line games and programs in a secure and handy way.
Friendster will combine seek, content discovery and social functionalities. In line with the brand promise, it will host superior methods of searching, enticing and making new friends, and awesome approach to discover new video games.
“More capabilities are on the way,” promises Ganesh.