PUBLIC NOTICE: FACEBOOK LAUNCHES IN NIGERIA

Wild Fusion, a digital marketing firm that specializes in online media sales, social media engagement and web analytics services, was recently granted exclusive rights to media display possibilities on Facebook. Through its international partner, the rights cover all Nigerian-facing homepage inventories on the world’s greatest social media platform - Facebook. Speaking on the partnership, MD/CEO Wild Fusion, Mr. Abasiama Idaresit said a great deal of opportunities abound for Facebook advertising in Nigeria. According to him, the population of Nigerians on Facebook surpassed 1.2 million as at March 2010.

He says, "Facebook is really very popular among Nigerians and it may interest you to know that the population of Nigerians on Facebook just surpassed the 1.14 million mark. From the latest stats (statistics) we got from Facebook, it is among the top three most visited sites by Nigerians and the most popular age demographic globally is 35-49."

According to the BBC programme "Superpower", the Nigerian internet population stood at about 24 million people in 2008, information sourced from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  This data places Nigeria as Africa’s biggest internet market (audience) dwarfing South Africa and Egypt. The internet offers a great platform to reach millions of Nigerians with amazing targeting possibilities including age, gender, interest and behavioural targeting.

To mark this new partnership, the official launch of Facebook in Nigeria will take place on the 30^th of April 2010 at the Protea Hotel Ikoyi Westwood and will play host to brand and marketing personnel in major Nigerian blue chip companies and to members of the press. Speaking at the event will be the Head of emerging markets EMEA for Facebook Mr. Mark Cowan, Mr. Abasiama Idaresit MD/CEO of Wild Fusion Limited, Mr. Japie Swanepoel of Interactive Concepts based in Cape Town, South Africa, to mention a few. Also guest speaker at the event will be Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, MD Interswitch Nigeria Limited, who will be speaking on the topic "Consumer Engagement In a Digital Age."

The launch event will focus on enlightening the public about the opportunities available on the Facebook platform via a medium called "engagement ads." Engagement Ads encourage members to interact with the ads by leaving comments, sharing virtual gifts, or becoming fans. To combat the currently dismal click-through rates of traditional advertisements, these features emulate widgets and encourage users to increase member adoption, viral growth, and brand interaction.

Looking at the internet population trend, Idaresit said he foresees an increase in the size of the online audience in Nigeria. He is optimistic that with better infrastructure including the launch of the two fiber optic submarine cables and other technologies, there should be a drop in internet subscription charges and an increase in penetration in the country. "Digital marketing plans should now become a part of the overall consumer engagement plan."

Throwing more light on the services rendered by Wild Fusion, the MD/CEO said other opportunities exist on MSN, BBC (mobile and web) and MTVbase.com adding that the organization also offers services on the Google platform which includes search, display and analytics services.

"The Facebook self-served ads would still be available for everyone though they have a lower click-through rate and are much cheaper. The higher value engagement ads such as the Facebook Video engagement ads (a client can have his TV commercial on members homepage) Event Engagement Ads (best for events and programmes), Rest-of-site Ads, Poll Engagement Ads and Virtual Gift Engagement Ads can be handled by our professionals."

For More Information, Please contact; Mary Ikoku (Mrs.) Integrated Quest Public Relations, Lagos. 0802-999-0230.