Facebook has been rapidly innovating with their ad platform and rolling out new ad formats. We have seen:- Fan Page ad units - Polling and rich video units - Direct response / Sampling units
It looks as though a new ad unit has been rolled out: Gifting. The flow is simple:
1. A user sees the ad and is able to select a friend to give the 'gift' to (the gift is the notification and the unique icon):
2. As you give the gift, you are able to select friends (with the auto-fill tool) and add a personalized note:
3. Once you give the gift, it shows up with below the ad in the Google Chat-like format:
4. That gift is then posted directly to the recipient's wall and a notification is sent:
For Saw VI, this is a follow up to their other Facebook Ad Campaigns (they previously ran a fan and Event RSVP campaign). This latest 'gift' campaign seems to be more focused on continuing the viral loop and reinforcing the movie's branding. It is an interesting format - but I am not sure you would want to launch a Facebook campaign specifically with it... perhaps if, like the Rockstar direct response ads, it were tied to also becoming a fan (and it very well could be - I happen to already be a Saw VI fan!).