Sustainable social media app WeAre8 has packed its bags, stamped its passport, and officially launched in the USA.
With an existing presence in the Australian, New Zealand, and UK markets, the app making its US debut also marks its first time in the Americas.
In amongst a very busy launch day, Mediaweek caught up with Lizzie Young, APAC CEO and global growth officer at WeAre8, to chat about the logistics of expanding into the US market.
Lizzie Young and John Rohl, WeAre8 CFO
“The US is the largest advertising market in the world, and of course, given our business model, that’s really exciting for us,” says Young. “That means we can divert an incredibly significant amount of money into impact, and back to people, planet, and causes that matter.
“For us to enter the US market makes complete sense, because it’ll really demonstrate the power of people and brands coming together to change the world.”
Of course, there has been a lot of work to get to the point of launch, including securing launch partners. The WeAre8 US debut is backed by 16 charities as well as publishers and media companies Warner Bros. Discovery, PinkNews, The Independent, and LADbible Group.
“There’s lots of organisation behind the scenes when you’re collaborating with lots of different partners,” Young says. “But I think that’s actually in our DNA, and it’s been a real point of difference for us to go to market and look for people and brands who are mission aligned, to look for publishers and work with them so that they can help be part of the mission.
“It always takes time to build those partnerships, and yes, this has been months in the making. But I think the power of the reach and the amplification that it delivers is really significant for us, and super exciting.”
Every market has its own nuances, and the US is no different. Young says that the big things the WeAre8 team had to consider were “scale, size, and diversity of community,” with a big focus being put on the locality of the end product.
“Tapping into the local market is really important for us, as much as we want to make enormous global impact. You can roll out so long as you localise the partners that you’ve got, the content creators, and make sure that you’re relevant to the audience.
“That was part of the reason why we partnered with Sam Kolder on the US TVC. We’re really, really proud of it. Hopefully, everyone who sees it in America today will download the app, get on board and start making an impact.”
Whilst it’s early days yet, Young says that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive – especially when the team are able to bring stats to the market like the fact that people become stickier on the app over time, and every month they grow in terms of time spent on the platform.
“The feedback we’re getting from the market is very exciting. We’ve had similar feedback in the US as we have had in Australia and the UK, that we are a solution that delivers on all the metrics.
“We build brand, there’s no wastage, it’s fully completed video views, all the way through to acquisition and conversion and those digital metrics, but done in a way that means the campaign is carbon neutral. It is an ethical, responsible media and marketing investment where the brand is also able to do something for the community with the share of revenue that goes back to charity and to climate solutions. It’s super exciting from a brand perspective, and I’m sure we’re going to see that grow and grow and grow in the US.”
See Also: WeAre8 expands client offering with B-Corp certified client team, Collaborate
–
Top Image: Lizzie Young