Mars UK is taking the concept of gifting to a whole new level. The maker of candy bars is in the development phase for creating a Facebook application that will allow members to actually buy chocolate for each other, according to a report on Food Production Daily. Wanna send someone a Twix bar? Log in to Facebook.
The app will be called Celebration, and it’s a very nifty idea for marketing directly to consumers through an application that looks to leverage relationships between friends. And it’s not like you “gift” someone a chocolate bar and then they get it in the mail. That would sometimes require private information to be obtained or given, which some would be uncomfortable with.
And even if you did know the address of the person you wanted to send a bar to, there are a bunch of friends out there whose address you may not have, but you’d love to send them a chocolate bar anyway. So what Mars does is send along points, which the recipient can redeem at a participating PayPoint store.
This is currently in the UK only, but I can’t wait for it to make its way to the states. Who doesn’t like getting chocolate? There have been a few initiatives similar to this, such as Going.com’s “Buy a Drink” option. And I think Mars could even take the Celebration app to another level if the company could manage to link up with Facebook birthday alerts. Knowing Facebook, it would be an ideal situation for the social network, and less intrusive than Beacon.
User comment: By: CaliBeachVacationsThis is a fantastic marketing idea.... this will be emulated by many companies... I don't buy my friends a candy bar when i go to the store unless they are there... would i buy one for my friends on facebook? Probably. I need to think what product I can market using this method... =)
User comment: By: PaoloVery cool idea! The new web is shaping everything! IT is a very smart marketing idea that also lets users feel they are doing somehting cool for their friends.
Visit here to subscribe to these commentsUser comment: By: Jake CohenVery smart. I think it's amazing how all of these Facebook application are sprouting up. The fact that you can actually buy someone a candy bar with points, is something of utter magnificence. I too cannot wait until this appears in the States, for I will be one of the first to use it. :) www.TalkPrice.net