Press
HEARST MAGAZINES DIGITAL MEDIA PARTNERS WITH BUDDY MEDIA TO LAUNCH A SCALABLE SOCIAL PLATFORM ON FACEBOOK FOR THIRTEEN HEARST BRANDS
NEW YORK – JUNE 13, 2011- Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, and Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for eight of the top ten global advertisers, today announced that the two companies have partnered to launch a scalable social platform across the growing network of Hearst brands. With an initial thirteen brands earmarked for this partnership, Hearst will become the first publisher to launch network-wide and will have the largest publisher presence on the Buddy Media Platform. In addition, Buddy Media will power Hearst's branded social media applications – 'sapplets' – giving Hearst's advertising partners another outlet for customization, sponsorship and brand recognition. The 'sapplets' will also extend content from participating brand sponsors via social media, as well as drive fans to e-commerce sales.
“Many of our advertising partners have already integrated Buddy Media as part of a strategy to strengthen their social media marketing efforts in an innovative way,” said Kristine Welker, chief revenue officer, Hearst Magazines Digital Media. “The unique set of 'sapplets' will bring online social communities together, and create scale and synergy for Hearst clients. As a result, the enormous global network of Facebook members will become more engaged with our branded content and have the ability to share interactions, recommend favorite products and much more.”
The "sapplets" will be available in July on the Facebook pages of Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, RealBeauty.com, Redbook and Marie Claire. These social applications include:
- -Vote For Your Favorite: A vote up/vote down tool that enables consumers to engage and vote on multi-media branded assets, such as products, user-generated content and brand videos.
- -Interactive “Personality” Boutique: A recommendation tool that suggests products based on a user's answers to a personality quiz. Users can explore the recommended products, as well as products recommended for other users, and can click to purchase.
- -Custom Badges: Site visitors earn badges for engaging with content on an advertiser's custom tab (e.g. taking a quiz or posting a comment), which can then be shared on their wall.
In August, the functionality will continue to roll out across additional sites.
To help drive the viral nature of this program, as consumers engage with the ?sapplets,' their activity is shared through their network of friends, which increases awareness and interaction with the participating brands that sponsor the? 'sapplets.'
“We're excited to be working with Hearst Magazines Digital Media to innovate on how brands leverage the Facebook platform to communicate with their fans,” said Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media. “This program will allow Hearst to provide its advertisers with a powerful network on Facebook, and the ability to easily deliver fresh and engaging content to fans.”
ABOUT HEARST MAGAZINES DIGITAL MEDIA
Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating andimplementing the digital strategy for Hearst's magazine brands and other sites, which serve the company's consumer audience. The unit oversees more than 28 websites and 14 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, ELLE Decor, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Road & Track and Seventeen, as well as digital-onlysites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN; MisQuinceMag.com; and RealBeauty.com. Hearst Magazines has published nearly 100 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Android platform. In addition, the company includes iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency.
About Buddy Media
The Buddy Media Platform is the Facebook management system of choice for eight out of the ten top global advertisers. With itsscalable, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools, it is the only solution that allows brands to launch, maintain and measure their Facebook presence in any country and in any language. Buddy Media shares four investors withFacebook and was one of the first companies selected by Facebook as a preferred developer partner. The company is backedby WPP, Softbank Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, GGVC, Greycroft Partners, Facebook investor Ron Conway, Facebookboard member Peter Thiel, Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus, Roger Ehrenberg, and others. For more information, visit http://www.buddymedia.com.