Was reading a report the other day on some focus testing recently undertaken for the Public Health Agency of Canada on concepts for an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign aimed at males 18-25. Focus groups were held in Toronto and Montreal. For more detail on the testing methodology and what the concepts look like, here’s the report – it’s a PDF file.
A couple of the campaign concepts tested included Facebook applications – so this piqued my interest in both cases, participants in the testing gave the ideas a resounding fail. Here’s the summary for one of the concept’s Facebook application idea (a game called “attack of the drones”):
The Facebook application was not well received by focus group participants in either Toronto or Montreal. Many indicated that they are on Facebook but they do not actively use it, nor would they invite their friends to install or load this application on their page. Participants suggested that Facebook has become more of a tool to keep in touch with their friends, hence the lack of desire to install applications. [my emphasis]
The report also quotes a participant: “I don’t install apps in Facebook.”
The summary for the other concept with a Facebook component (this time it’s a quiz for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS) continues in the same vein:
Once again the Facebook approach didn’t resonate at all with participants. They indicated they would likely not post this quiz on their Facebook page and would not be willing to pass it on to their friends. There were of course some participants that would do the quiz, however, they didn’t see the point of having it in Facebook.
From my own experience of Facebook apps, I have found that they are for the most part annoying. Looks like it’s not just me — even among a core Facebook demographic, there is little willingness to install and share applications on this platform. Facebook apps just aren’t the way to go for marketing efforts.
What's a spaghetti test?
Here’s news that might be of interest for Facebook users: today, we launch a new Facebook video application, which we believe is the most complete one available. Video Share has the coolest and most useful tools for watching and sharing videos on Facebook, all in one place.
Among other features, users who install Video Share will be able to:
Collect videos and share them with their friends
Search videos from more than 200 websites and add them to their profile with just one click
Choose the interface language (English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Japanese or Chinese)
Receive updates every time there is a new video on their favorite subjects (key words / tags subscription)
Import their YouTube favorites
Watch their friends’ video selections
We believe that we are offering an app the market has been waiting for. One of its most relevant characteristics is that the user is able to choose their interface language, something that is still rare, but very important, given Facebook’s increasing reach in the rest of the world.
Video Share: http://apps.facebook.com/video-share
We hope you like it!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know.
OBS: Be sure to take a look at the comparative table of Video Share and other video apps (http://www.weshow.com/files/Video_Share_EN.jpg ), which provides a comprehensive overview of the product.
All the best,
Joana Ericson
Director of Communications
WeShow
joana.ericson@weshow.com