Sun Microsystems co-founder McNealy looking to team up with Weibo
US technology guru wants to change the way major advertisers measure and drive their global marketing campaigns
US technology guru Scott McNealy, the outspoken co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is looking to team up with Chinese microblogging service Weibo in an initiative to change the way major advertisers measure and drive their global marketing campaigns.
Forming that alliance would enable digital media analytics start-up Wayin, which McNealy leads as chief executive, to harness relevant content from China’s largest social network and package it for marketers to use in their campaigns in real time.
“What Uber did to [disrupting transport] logistics, we’re going to do to traditional media buying,” McNealy said. “Brands are spending billions of dollars on television and print advertising, as well as on static billboards and naming stadiums, but they’re not getting any guaranteed return [on their investment].”
What Uber did to [disrupting transport] logistics, we’re going to do to traditional media buying
He said “properly curated, moderated and placed social media is more engaging, persuasive and reassuring [to consumers]”.
Wayin, which McNealy co-founded five years ago, has existing alliances with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other large social networks with publicly published content.
It says its analytics operation processes more than half a billion pieces of social media content every day for a fast-growing client list, which includes Coca-Cola, Nike, Fox Studios, The Weather Channel, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Cyperport and the Lane Crawford Joyce Group.
Each Wayin client makes use of a digital dashboard on which their preferred campaign measurements are monitored.
“You can put all of your key performance indicators, such as time on site, retweets, click to buy, photo uploads, registrations and whatever else is important to you,” McNealy said. “We show you how we run the campaign and how much value we create every day.”