Tag: twitter

New WeChat feature could put a new twist on mobile advertisements

Tencent, one of China’s largest Internet and e-commerce organizations, has held a commanding and lucrative place in the mobile space for some time, but the company is eager to find yet more success therein and beat back competition coming from companies like Alibaba. Tencent has launched a new service for its popular WeChat application that may take mobile marketing to a new level and make mobile ads more attractive and valuable to certain businesses.

Tencent aims to mimic the marketing success that social media platforms have seen through marketing

Social media marketing has long been a very powerful way to engage consumers due to the fact that so many people use social media platforms on a daily basis. For Facebook and Twitter, marketing is a primary revenue stream. For Tencent, marketing could be yet another way to monetize its WeChat application, which is the most widely used social application in Asia.

New service allows companies to place advertisements on the social pages of their competitors

Tencent’s new WeChat service allows companies with verified WeChat accounts to pay fees to have their advertisements placed on the social pages of other companies. The revenue collected by these fees will be split between Tencent and the companies that will be hosting the advertisements. Advertisers will be able to target specific demographics through this new service, meaning that WeChat users will see ads based on their interests, age, gender, and location.

Tencent manages to successfully monetize app through mobile commerce

Tencent has already successfully monetized its WeChat app through allowing it to serve as a mobile commerce platform. The app can be used to pay for certain goods and service, as long as the company selling these goods and services supports mobile payments. By involving itself in the mobile marketing field, Tencent may be able to make itself more attractive to companies and not just consumers. This could help Tencent compete with Alibaba in the mobile space. Both companies have taken a strong position in the market, seeking dominance among a consumer base that is becoming increasingly mobile-centric.

Social media users find new Happy Meal mascot from the fast-food giant “horrifying”.

McDonald’s Corporation recently introduced its new character, Happy, on Twitter, but their social media marketing did not produce the desired effect the company was hoping for because instead of a positive response, twitter users responded with fear and mockery.

Happy was designed to promote healthier Happy Meals for children but is now regarded as an “epic fail”.

Shaped like a happy meal box, Happy has bug eyes, a huge grinning mouth with a full set of big teeth, long, skinny rubbery arms and short skinny legs with running shoes. Since the mascot’s release, it has mostly generated negative social media news attention, with many people calling it “creepy” and “horrifying”. Some of the comments left by social media users after watching the video featuring the mascot on McDonald’s facebook page included “Epic fail” and “This makes me crave Burger King”. Not exactly the types of responses and feedback McDonald’s was aiming to receive.

However, McDonald’s is still hopeful that children will like Happy more than the average social media user. According to an Illinois based McDonald’s in Oak Brook, the new character “is about bringing more fun and excitement to kids’ meals, including eating wholesome food choices like low-fat yogurt.” The company added that the mascot will motivate children to eat more vegetables and fruits and to choose healthier drink options, such as milk, juice or water, over soda.

Despite the negative response to McDonald’s social media marketing of Happy, the company still has confidence in its character.

Happy may be new to America, but this character was introduced in France back in 2009 and has since made its way to other countries in Europe and in Latin America. On May 23, Happy will officially begin appearing across McDonald’s in the U.S.

Obesity is a serious problem in America and in an effort to help improve nutrition, the popular fast-food organization is attempting to reach out to children and encourage them to choose healthier options. In addition to the smaller-sized fry portion and offering apple slices in its Happy Meals – changes that were made in 2012 – McDonald’s now intends to offer kids a low-fat yogurt side, which will be introduced July 4.

Only time will tell if Happy is an actual success or if it will terrify kids as much as it did online and mobile users via social media marketing.