Is Sky considering a Facebook deal?
According to Digital Spy, Sky is in talks with popular social networking site Facebook with a view to gaining a permanent presence on the site.
Facebook isn’t averse to advertising on the site, but the article suggests that Sky would like to do more than just run ad campaigns. They’re currently running a campaign to assess whether Facebook users are willing to interact with the Sky brand, and if so, Sky could invest further in the site to promote its services and supply exclusive content.
While many Facebook users (including me) are against the site becoming too much like MySpace, the Applications functionality could open the way for brands, particularly multimedia ones, to input their content onto the site.
Viral marketing is often seen as the holy grail, because it costs a lot less and it’s passed on because users are genuinely interested in it. The very nature of these social networking sites is that users naturally want to pass cool stuff on to their friends, and share in groups. Sky could put its own decent content on the site (snippets of 24 or Lost, perhaps) and not worry quite so much about illegal use of its content.
Facebook already has a video application – Sky could easily use or adapt this. What wouldn’t be cool, though, is if fake users start popping up. Ooh look, Mister Harry David Sky has 600 friends – but he’s a bit… pixelated. That’s less likely to happen in Facebook, whose whole ethos is based on real relationships, but it’s a possibility.
Of course, the trial has to be successful first. Facebook users like free stuff (you should see the furore sparked off about paying for virtual gifts) and though anti-brand feeling may not be anything like as bad as in Second Life, a backlash could be ugly. Just think, people might… start an anti-Sky group!
(Via Digital Spy)
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