Facebook struck a global advertising alliance with MSN in November last year, a move that was expected to see MSN Asia’s sales representatives Pixel Media and Interactive Hub pick up regional contracts for Facebook.
However, MSN and its representatives only handle a small portion of Facebook sales in the region. Instead, the site has opted for a ‘self-service’-style sales strategy, in which companies book ads themselves on a specially-designed booking platform (www.facebook.com/ads).
However, MSN and its representatives only handle a small portion of Facebook sales in the region. Instead, the site has opted for a ‘self-service’-style sales strategy, in which companies book ads themselves on a specially-designed booking platform (www.facebook.com/ads).
Jeff Brady, Facebook’s VP, global alliances, told Media: “Asia is very, very important to Facebook. But MSN will be representing only a few Asia-Pacific countries and for (Interactive Advertising Bureau) graphical ads only.
“We are offering both our self-serve ad platform, Facebook Ads, and will continue to manage site-specific sales here from California for the immediate near term. We are not speaking with any sales houses in Asia as to site specific representation.”
By contrast, Friendster has pan-regional representation. It uses Interactive Hub for Singapore and Pixel Media for Hong Kong.
Asia-Pacific is a fast-growth market for Facebook, with sizeable communities in Singapore, India and Hong Kong, its largest market. But it is still no match for Friendster, which was founded in 2002,and has 22 million users in the region. Facebook, launched in 2004, claims just under four million.
