Coke, Nestle Are Among Big Brands Testing Virtual Currency Vids

Five major brands have been testing video ads around Gwallet's virtual currency offering since December. Best Buy, K-Mart, Nestle, Coke, and The History Channel have been repurposing Web clips or broadcast spots in front of social gamers, giving them the opportunity to watch the pieces to earn currency points.

The promos have appeared within MobScience's social gaming applications, such as Snowball Fight, FooPets, and SuperHero City. The games can also be played on Facebook, which entails the ad medium's key viral component. For most of the brands, there is a link within the video or at the end of the clip where a user can click to become a "fan" of the product or service being advertised. If users click to become a fan, it shows up on their Facebook news feed, where friends can see and potentially engage with it.

Meanwhile, users can earn points for virtual goods in games and other social apps. The service, dubbed gWallet Video, typically necessitates that users watch the whole video to earn points. However, partial views were good for points in the test campaigns.

A Gwallet spokesperson claimed that the average user has watched the five brands' videos for more than two minutes. "The brands have given us feedback that the engagement results were high, so they are continuing to send us [requests for proposals]," according to the spokesperson.

JCPenney, Disney, and Anchor Bay Entertainment are among other brands that have run ads in the program. In all cases, they have paid on a cost-per-view basis, according to the San Francisco-based Gwallet.