Entrepreneurs and companies encouraged to apply for the right to resell WeReward to businesses within zip code-based geographic areas
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 17—WeReward (http://www.wereward.com), a mobile incentive platform that pays consumers cash for the actions they take in the real world, officially unveiled its Certified Local Partner Program today. The program provides qualified individuals and companies the right to resell WeReward to businesses in their local communities under a revenue sharing arrangement. Partners can apply for the zip code that will define their geographic boundary starting today.
“Imagine if you were one of the first people with the foresight to franchise a McDonald’s in the 1940s,” said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA, WeReward’s parent company. “The Certified Local Partner Program offers a 21st Century version of the same opportunity for Internet-savvy entrepreneurs and companies in the exploding social media and mobile marketing spaces.”
Exploding is an understatement. eMarketer projects that 85.5 million U.S. mobile users will access the web from mobile devices in 2010, a number that will exceed 142 million by 2014. Similarly, ComScore identifies social networking as the fastest growing category of mobile applications by usage, with 240 percent growth between April 2009 and April 2010. WeReward resides at the intersection of the mobile and social realm, offering an incentive layer that provides additional value to consumers.
WeReward enables businesses to create and manage their own mobile incentive program from an integrated online platform. Businesses create rewards that act as cash back to customers. Customers, in turn, claim the rewards by taking photos of themselves at a business location and following provided instructions such as “Take a picture of you and your food at Mel’s Diner.” Rewards are designed to drive awareness, reward purchases and create customer loyalty.
WeReward launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in late May to a crowd of more than 1,000 tech leaders, journalists and venture capitalists. Eleven weeks later, WeReward has surpassed 100,000 downloads with users claiming rewards in every major U.S. market. Smart phone users can claim rewards at more than 15 million businesses nationwide including restaurants, bars, movie theaters, hotels and other retail establishments.
“You can’t purchase the rights to resell Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter or Yelp in a given geography,” Murphy said. “WeReward is the first company in its space to open up its network. Our model gives local independent entrepreneurs and companies the opportunity to benefit from our growth and profit from their effort. Now is the chance for forward-thinking entrepreneurs to grab a piece of a multi-billion dollar pie,” he continued. “With the rollout of this partner program, we are on a mission to share WeReward with every business owner in the country.”
Interested agencies and potential partners can visit www.wereward.com/partners to apply.
The WeReward mobile application is currently available for Apple iPhone and Android devices. A BlackBerry version of the application will be released soon. Users can download the application at http://www.wereward.com.
ABOUT IZEA
IZEA is a world leader in social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces such as WeReward, SponsoredTweets, and SocialSpark. Our mission is to empower everyone to value and exchange content, creativity and influence. IZEA is venture funded by Inflexion Partners, Village Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and DFJ Gotham Ventures. Advertisers, publishers and partners can learn more at http://www.IZEA.com.