ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Virgin Mobile USA debuts "Fund My Phone"app on Facebook

Virgin Mobile USA has extended its Sugar Mama mobile advertising program to Facebook, the world's No. 2 social network after MySpace.

The virtual mobile network operator has created a new "Fund My Phone" application to let its 5 million-plus customers get their Facebook friends to pay for their wireless minutes.

"It was a way for us to take the Sugar Mama concept and broaden its appeal," said Scott Kelliher, director of mobile advertising at Virgin Mobile USA, Warren, NJ.

The Facebook news comes a day after Virgin Mobile USA said it was holding preliminary talks with South Korea's SK Telecom "to explore possible strategic opportunities." The discussions are said to be at an early stage and "there are no assurances that any transaction will result," Virgin Mobile USA said in a statement.

SK Telecom is a key investor in Helio, a mobile virtual network operator in the United States.

The Facebook deal is an extension of a relationship Virgin already has with the online social network.

"We've been working with Facebook for quite some time," Mr. Kelliher said. "It was a preexisting relationship and we had a pretty good fit, so we decided to roll with it."

Virgin Mobile USA customers can download the application and place it on their Facebook page. The application lets the customer share up to five different spots with Facebook friends.

Also, if the user's friends watch ads on their Facebook page they will earn the host airtime from Virgin Mobile USA. This is being positioned as "peer-endorsed" exposure.

The application shows thumbnail images of randomly rotated Sugar Mama ad content on the Facebook profile page. The Sugar Mama ad or other ad content begins playing for users to view and rate if the Facebook friends click on the application.

Every viewing is credited to the host Virgin Mobile USA phone number linked through the Facebook application.

Per the deal, the Virgin Mobile USA customers earns 6 minutes of airtime as soon as the first four views by the Facebook friends are credited.

The customer gets 1 minute of airtime for every four views by the Facebook friends after the initial viewings.

The "Fund My Phone" effort is an extension of the Sugar Mama mobile marketing program that was launched a couple of years ago.

Customers who opt-in to the Sugar Mama program can earn up to 75 minutes each month by viewing different ad spots and other creative materials as well as answer questions.

Another way to earn airtime is to complete surveys online, forward Sugar Mama spots to friends or respond to branded text messages.

More than 700,000 Virgin Mobile USA customers have opted in to Sugar Mama since its debut, earning them more than 26 million minutes of free airtime.

Virgin Mobile USA offers pricing plans without annual contracts, including monthly options with unlimited nights and weekends to by-the-minute offers.

Like its peers, Virgin has to constantly market and promote to maintain its point of differentiation. The launch of Sugar Mama on Facebook fits in line with that thinking.

"The goal is to provide a new and different way for us to provide added value for our subscribers and partners," Mr. Kelliher said.