Ypulse Interview: John Cahill, CEO, Meez
Posted by meredith on 10-23-2009Today's Ypulse Interview is with John Cahill, CEO of teen virtual world Meez. After two big announcements this week — an integration on MySpace and reaching profitability since April — we caught up to ask a few questions on the new partnership and how it addresses the issues with teen users we've been discussing since Anastasia's recent post. Here's what John had to say.
Ypulse: Why did Meez choose MySpace as the first social platform to launch on? Was there any particular aspect of MySpace vs. Facebook that made it the first choice? Is there a timeline for integrations on other social networks?
John Cahill: The Meez customer experience is all about discovery, meeting people, connecting with friends and sharing media. In many ways the activities one does on MySpace are very similar to the Meez experience, except on Meez it's face to face in a social virtual world. Given this overlap in product experience we chose Myspace first, but we'll continue rolling out other social network integrations.
In addition to similarities in experience, MySpace and Meez also have similar demographics. The Meez audience is generally younger, with an average age of about 17. Meez users are very into sharing popular music and videos, are into pop culture, and over 90% of them are in the U.S. Integrating with MySpace first was a natural choice. Look for us to be rolling out on other social networks in 2010.
YP:How does the Meez experience fit into MySpace's new focus on youth culture as an entertainment hub? Are there any plans for promotions or campaigns to celebrate the new integration?
JC: Meez is ideal as an entertainment experience. If we look at a Meez visitor, we see huge engagement numbers, and this is because of the integrated entertainment experience where we blend community and content together. Going to a MySpace profile is great, but it's a solitary experience where you're leaving comments or watching a video embed. You do the same things inside the Meez application, but it's face to face and interactive.
We're working with the MySpace team to see how we can work together on this…. look for Meez on MySpace next week!
YP: What does this integration mean for current Meez users? How does it change the user experience, both in the ad-supported free space and with the "VIP" content? In terms of virtual goods?
JC: It's the same MeezNation virtual world experience – it just happens on MySpace.com instead of Meez.com. Current Meez users who are also MySpace users can add the app to their profiles and use their existing meez Avatars and access to the same virtual goods and virtual rooms that they currently have. The same branded objects and items are there. The only difference is that brands will reach an even larger audience with exposure through MySpace.
YP: What unique challenges do virtual worlds face with teens in virtual worlds? How did Meez address those challenges before integrating with a social network? And how do you hope this partnership will help to maintain interest and engagement?
JC: Teens are a great audience, but the product has to be entertaining and evolving to maintain interest and engagement. It's essential to have an interesting content pipeline. Our users watch popular videos together, listen and dance to music together, and we're always offering new virtual goods and "Roomz" tied to events like Halloween, for example. From a virtual goods perspective, many teens don't have credit cards or bank accounts, so its important to provide alternate payment channels like prepaid cards or mobile payments. You can purchase Meez Coinz Cards at Target and Best Buy, or use one of our mobile payments options. The more options, the better.
YP: In addition to exposure, how do you see the integration on MySpace helping to reach out to new teen users?
JC: So far, Meez has grown its audience completely virally, and we expect to see this trend continue. Meez is a community based experience, so naturally, teens who are either already into Meez, or those who try and like Meez on MySpace, will naturally invite their other MySpace friends to join.
Categorized under: Web
