Facebook has many different capabilities and applications but everyone was surprised today when Warner Bros. Digital Distribution (WBDD) announced how they are harnessing this powerful social medium.
Warner Bros. will now be offering movies to rent or purchase online through their Facebook movie page
WB’s movie pages use a very similar model to popular movie renters such as Pay Per View and iTunes, where each rental is available for 48 hours after initial purchase. You can also pause, rewind, and resume playing when you log back onto Facebook. However, Facebook offers one important advantage over other movie rental providers; you are still enabled to interact with your social network during the movie viewing experience. The press release states that:
“Consumers will also have full Facebook functionality including the ability to post comments on the movie, interact with friends and update their status. Consumers simply click on the “rent” icon to apply their Facebook Credits, and within seconds they will begin enjoying the film.”
An additional exciting Facebook capability is how consumers pay for the movie rental transaction. They can either use US dollars or even “Facebook Credits”. WB currently launched this program with the popular move THE DARK KNIGHT, for the price of 3 US dollars or 30 Facebook Credits. Facebook now has it’s own currency that consumers can easily monetized into US dollars.
This further proves that social media is the future of marketing and all brands should work on innovative methods to harness its capabilities.