Virgin USAers Can "Fund My Phone" with Facebook Friends
Facebook has a brand new Sugar Mama, thanks to a unique new application that lets friends earn
wireless airtime for other friends who are Virgin Mobile USA customers. The
national provider of wireless communications services and plans without
annual contracts has designed the “Fund My Phone” application, allowing
Virgin Mobile USA’s more than 5 million customers to get their Facebook
friends to help pay for their wireless minutes.
“Fund My Phone” is an extension of the popular Sugar Mama mobile marketing program first launched by Virgin Mobile USA in 2006. Customers who opt in to Sugar Mama are invited to earn up to 75 minutes per month by viewing a variety of ad spots and other creative materials and answer a few questions. Customers also earn airtime by completing surveys online, responding to branded text messages or forwarding Sugar Mama spots to friends to share. Over 700,000 Virgin Mobile USA customers have opted-in to Sugar Mama since its launch, earning more than 26 million minutes of free airtime.
“Developing a special Facebook application was a natural next step for us,” said Bob Stohrer, Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Mobile USA. “The interaction among Facebook users mirrors the strong community among Virgin Mobile USA customers. Now, customers can add to their minutes by having friends contribute to their talk time and share cool content. And Fund My Phone also offers a powerful vehicle for Virgin Mobile USA’s brand partners to reach audiences beyond our customer base.”
Add Application, Earn Airtime
The “Fund My Phone” application is fast to install and easy to use. Virgin Mobile USA customers can download the application and place it within their Facebook page. The application allows the customer to share up to five different spots with Facebook friends. As an extension of Sugar Mama, if the user’s friends will watch ads on their Facebook page those friends are earning the host Virgin Mobile USA airtime. Sugar Mama will showcase advertisers’ creativity offering these program partners “peer endorsed” exposure.
On the profile page, the application displays thumbnail images of a randomly rotated Sugar Mama advertising content. When friends click on the application, a Sugar Mama ad or other piece of advertiser content begins playing for them to view and rate.
Each viewing is credited to the host Virgin Mobile USA phone number linked through the Facebook application. The Virgin Mobile USA customer earns six minutes of airtime as soon as the first four “views” by Facebook friends are credited. After the initial viewings, the customer receives one minute of airtime for every four views by their Facebook friends.
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
A quick glance at the homepage for the service on Facebook shows a lot of friends wanting “fund” each other!
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