There’s little to choose between the two in terms of what they offer advertisers: lots of young people spending lots of time in one place.
Curiously, though, Facebook and Friendster are choosing to sell to the region’s advertisers in rather different ways. So which looks most likely to succeed?
Curiously, though, Facebook and Friendster are choosing to sell to the region’s advertisers in rather different ways. So which looks most likely to succeed?
Friendster, which enjoys greater reach than Facebook (with 25 million unique visitors a month compared to Facebook’s 13 million) outsources its advertising sales to sales houses including Pixel Media and Interactive Hub.
Facebook, the more addictive of the two (with users ‘hanging out’on the site for longer than on Friendster), prefers the Google model in which advertisers help themselves using its self-service platform, Facebook Ads. Advertisers can also, however, go directly to Facebook’s US-based sales team, while MSN sells Facebook’s banner advertising in some markets.
“It’s like making a choice between buying a plane ticket online or calling a travel agent,” explains Susana Tsui, regional managing director of Neo@Ogilvy. “It depends how much control the publishers want over their inventory. Friendster’s is the earlier approach. Facebook’s is more highly-evolved. I wouldn’t say one is better, but if I had to bet on the dominant model of the future, my money would be on self-service.”
The sales house option is the typical route to market for US publishers entering Asia. Firms such as iHub, Pixel and Aktiv will sell on the website’s behalf, giving advertisers campaign effectiveness reports and hand-holding for those new to online advertising.
“Sales houses tend to be more corporate-friendly,” says Mark Newton, vice-president, digital media, at Qais Consulting. “Facebook seems keen to remain loyal to its users and keep corporates out.”
Newton has analysed Facebook’s self-service platform and says advertisers may find it confusing. “How advertisers set up is unclear, as is exactly what they’re getting in terms of targeting.”But, he adds, the onus is on advertisers to get to know how the process works.
Self-service platforms, such as Google’s AdWords, allow companies to book advertising quickly, whenever they want, which suits clients in different time zones. This mean that publishers, quite literally, make money while they sleep.
It also means that publishers reduce logistical costs, and advertisers don’t have to use an agency except, perhaps, for media planning.
The self-service model is more suited to smaller advertisers - the ‘long tail’ - says Ken Mandel, VP and regional MD, Southeast Asia, at Yahoo, which sells advertising in three ways: through its own sales team, on a self-service platform and through third-party resellers.
There is a future for a number of models to co-exist, he argues. “What’s more important to think about is context. The worst thing a brand can do with a medium as complex as a social network is put an ad in the wrong place at the wrong time.”