Meebo’s New Marketing Platform Enables Brand Advertisers to Engage Individuals and Their Friends Across the Web

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meebo, the Web’s live communications platform, today announced a new way to integrate brands into social media around the core premise of user engagement and sharing. The company also entered into charter marketing partnerships with top brands, media companies and musicians including Havaianas, Sony Electronics, Universal Pictures, and the band Weezer. Meebo will be presenting the Marketing Platform at The Conversational Marketing Summit in New York on June 10.

Meebo will incorporate new end-user features to make it easier for people to select, engage with, and share branded content with their friends. These features will provide advertisers with a natural and engaging way to be part of the Meebo experience. Further, Meebo will give advertisers quantitative information on which user segments are most engaged with their brand, and qualitative insights into factors which drive sharing and conversation about the brand.

Founded in September 2005, Meebo provides instant messaging and group chat to over 35 million people at Meebo.com and partner sites across the Web. The average person at Meebo.com spends over two hours on the site per day, and Meebo handles conversations consisting of over 5 billion messages per month.

“Meebo was built from the ground up with an emphasis on user experience,” said Carter Brokaw, chief revenue officer, Meebo. “We serve over 35 million users per month, yet the power of social media marketing lies in understanding how to best present a brand to individuals. If Meebo facilitates authentic and engaging experiences between an individual and a brand, we can leverage existing communication channels that are consistent with the way that person uses Meebo to IM and chat with their friends.”

“Historically, it has been a challenge for brands to predictably and measurably maximize the consumption and sharing of their content. Meebo’s integrated, non-interruptive method of delivering and distributing content creates a positive user experience. We’re excited to be among the first to try Meebo’s structured and accountable approach,” said Ian Schafer, CEO and Founder of Deep Focus.

Meebo’s approach to presenting brands to users is to treat brands and marketing experiences as valued content. The “brands as content-providers” philosophy has tested extremely well – interaction rates have been measured at 10x – 20x the interaction rates of ads on comparable social media sites. By integrating brands into the sharing that takes place naturally within Meebo’s IM and chat room services, Meebo is building a platform that is structured to leverage the viral spread of branded content while also measuring the effect brands have on the conversation.

Advertising Vehicles

Today, Meebo’s ad platform consists of three key components. All three provide unique and engaging channels for getting content into Meebo:

Meebo MediaBar

The Meebo MediaBar will employ a variety of ways for users to engage with a brand and share it with their friends. The MediaBar expands from an IAB standard 728x90 on user initiation, enabling the delivery of video, games, applications, news, and other interactive content for users to play with, adopt, and share, all within the context of the Meebo experience. Content can also be streamed from rich media vendors and then shared by one Meebo user across the rest of the Web. Marketers can offer Meebo users custom skins, buddy icons, and other digital goods and applications that can then be shared with others.

Meebo SparkAds

Meebo SparkAds are simple text ads that allow for responses to drive traffic to a brand’s site from SparkAds on Meebo and also from Meebo-powered conversation rooms on other sites.

Link Sharing

Meebo users share over 75 million URLs per month. Meebo has designed an enhanced method for discovering, saving, and sharing links with friends. This system will also include link sharing for advertiser content, increasing the utility of ads and the potential for a cascading outreach through peer-referral.

33Across Partnership

Meebo has partnered with 33Across, a new social network analysis platform to deliver enhanced social network based targeting and reporting. The solution enables marketing to apply several unique filters to better analyze and interpret campaign results. Marketers will receive groundbreaking analysis of viral behavior and customized “promoter” user segment information. The resulting data provides insight into the characteristics of viral promoters and can accelerate word of mouth.

VideoEgg Partnership

Meebo will also expand its relationship with VideoEgg by integrating the online advertising pioneer’s innovative AdFrames product into the MediaBar and later, SparkAds for Meebo Rooms syndication partners.

About Meebo, Inc.

Meebo is the Web’s live communications platform and helps individuals and partners connect live over the Web. Founded in September 2005, over 35 million people use Meebo monthly, either at Meebo.com, or through Meebo Rooms on partner sites. Meebo’s investors include Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and now JAFCO Ventures, Time Warner Investments, and KTB Ventures. Visit meebo.com to connect with friends live on the Web or for more information about Meebo Ads. Or drop us a note at ads@meebo.com.

All brands, names, or trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.