OfferBook's Official Blog

[offerbook-blog]

We"ll be back

Hey guys,

Apologies for the hiatus but we will are midst of working on a secret but we promise all shall be revealed. Keep the feedback coming which we always appreciate.

It has been a journey for us but we promise to be better so watch this space!

If you are wondering who we are, have a look at the links below if not feel free to drop us an email.

Offerbook Team

TV3 NZ

http://www.3news.co.nz/Tech-Bytes---May-2-2013/tabid/311/articleID/296257/Default.aspx?ref=video_2012-11-22

Idealog

http://www.idealog.co.nz/blog/2013/04/kiwis-develop-app-solve-facebook-offers-pain

Voxy

http://www.voxy.co.nz/technology/app-helps-consumers-consolidate-facebook-offers/5/151706

Cnet.com

http://download.cnet.com/OfferBook-Facebook-Offers/3000-2649_4-75864196.html

Zdnet.com

http://downloads.zdnet.com/search/?compid=10273233

The App Magazine

http://theappmagazine.com/offerbook-app-review-for-android/

Appreview Central

http://www.appreviewcentral.net/2013/05/31/app-designed-to-simplify-finding-saving-and-redeeming-facebook-offers/

App Zoom

http://www.appszoom.com/android_applications/social/deals-coupons-fb-offers_fkbhm.html

App Annie

http://www.appannie.com/app/android/com.offerbook.facebookoffers/

[offerbook-blog]

What the heck happened to Offerbook

I know great question; what happened to Offerbook, we haven’t launched any new versions in 2 straight months, before then we released 3 versions in 3 months, meaning 1/month.

So what happened? On the 1st of June, I wrote a tweet “asking developers their experience when any platform pulled or changed APIs that they’ve been using to build their start-ups?”, and again on the 7th of July I wrote another Tweet “boom we’re back again, and working on something close to our hearts”, there was no context behind those two tweets, so though to share our story what happened in between..

From Feb’ 2013 to May’ 2013, we released three versions, and were working on fourth one, when we noticed that the App is missing data set; after initial testing on our own systems, it was clear that this is external issue. After some more testing, it became evident that Facebook had done some changes, As it turns out, facebook had shifted Offers from users profiles to a separate tab which they recently added. 

Now, we can't do the consolidation of offers for users, we tried to get in touch with FB engineers, to see if they have any plans to provide support for newly added tab, but no response, so this is where we at with Offerbook. Hope it gave you some context around those two tweets.

[offerbook-blog]

  Young Kiwi blokes have beaten social media giant, Facebook, to the punch with the launch of a market-leading app that finds and consolidates Facebook offers to your android phone.

Check out the Offerbook app @ Google Playstore. http://bit.ly/13QAXEj

[offerbook-blog]

  Offerbook (free from the Google Play Store) is an Android app which stores your Facebook Offers in one place. Through the app the user is able to accept an offer from a brand and keep an eye on when it's about to expire. In addition the app shows offers near your location using the smartphone's built in GPS, and crowdsourcing other Offerbook users shows offers that might not appear in your newsfeed.....

[offerbook-blog]

Check out the Offerbook app at @ Google Playstore. http://bit.ly/13QAXEj

[offerbook-blog]

Walking down the memory lane

This is a very familiar scene to everyone that owns a Walkman. Remember carrying a box of cassettes and ever wishing that we have all our tunes stored in one place.

Is funny how Sony revolutionized the mobile music with the Walkman and followed by Apple digitizing your music playlist. Apple also brought the cool factor.

We wonder what is the next for mobile music.

Check out the Offerbook app @ Google Play

http://bit.ly/13QAXEj

[offerbook-blog]

A post on Instagram to make the meal official

Comic written by Larry Lambert; illustrated by Jerry King.

  I remembered my mum telling us kids to wash our hands before having our meal. This was the official initiation before having meal. These days the meal is “eaten” first by Instagram with a few snap from different angles and then going through the filters that will set the tone of the meal. Then it is time for the meal.

Check out our app @ Google Play

http://bit.ly/13QAXEj

[offerbook-blog]

We just can't get enough of Online Shopping

The birth of the internet has given us access to information and help us connect with the world. It has also given us online shopping.

Recent stats show that Ecommerce Sales has topped $1 trillion dollars for the year 2012. This is no surprising as we have become more accustom to being time poor and it helps us if we can shop at the comfort of our homes on the weekend and have all the shopping sent right to our doorstep.

Some of you might disagree that you would prefer to shop in-store and have the shopping experience but we all know this requires time but do we have enough of it?

[offerbook-blog]

Bringing the coolness with tech- Google Glass

Mashable cartoon by Lance Ulanoff

There sure has been a lot of talk about the Google Glass and if you search on Youtube, I am sure you find a few amusing parody.

The current design of the Google Glass may not ooze the cool factor yet but imagine being the first few to walk on a street with it. I am sure that counts for something.

What is interesting is how the Glass would give birth to the wearable technology which allows you to access the Internet. Imagine being able to access the rating of a restaurant just by viewing or going through your friends commentary of the restaurant.

The Glass might change our behavior on how we access the Internet and how we utilize the information. This seem to be a trend now with wearable technology and this year we might even see a watch in the growing technological sector.

[offerbook-blog]

Offerbook debut on TV

We just recently did our first TV interview and the whole team was really excited about this. It is true that you look an additional ten pounds when on TV, guess this is not really a myth then.

The journey has just started with the app initially built to collate Facebook Offers but now we can discover the Offers and viewing pictures from the places of Offers. We want to deliver a vivid experience when you redeem the Offer by giving you tips from other users, pictures taken and the commentary. This is the journey we believe in.

Here at Offerbook we want to thank you the users for this support and feel free to reach out if you have feedbacks. We are always happy to hear from you guys.

We’ll leave you with a few pictures from behind the scene and the video of our interview.

Once again thank you for your support.

Offerbook

([email protected])

Video

http://www.3news.co.nz/Tech-Bytes---May-2-2013/tabid/311/articleID/296257/Default.aspx?ref=video_2012-11-22

[offerbook-blog]

Are we living in a society of offer overload?

Do you remember the days when we use to cut out offers from supermarket receipts or a pamphlet? How excited we were when had discovered the offer?

The days are gone when we had cut out an offer and presented this to the vendors or even using the scissors to cut out anything. These days the offers have been digitized and the landscape has now changed which have given birth to offer titans such as Groupon, Living Social, Google Offer and Facebook Offer.

As a user it has now become an overload of offers with every alternate email in my inbox is in the form of offer EDM (yes I am an offer hoarder) but are these relevant to me?

In this digital age these offers are being pushed towards to an audience through the means of leveraging email, video, mobile, search or social channel. All these information of offers are being pushed heavily which would then cause an overload for the audience.

What the offer titans should consider is applying a pull approach. Think of what an individual audience preference is and customize the offer. Draw them back and we should see a better conversion. This should be the ideal approach because we have given our emails to the titan we expect lots of love but not to a point of over loving.

Gone are the days when we chose which offer to cut but now which offer to ignore.

[offerbook-blog]

Facebook or Groupon

Taking advantages of discount offers and coupons is not something new. In fact, you could say that Groupon is a veteran on the online offers game. But now, Facebook is giving Groupon a run for its money. 

In 2008, Andrew Mason started the concept of a deal-of-the-day website in Chicago, giving out discounted gift certificates usable at local and national companies in the state. It was an awesome idea, and soon enough, it spread worldwide and gave discounts to millions of people around the world. The only downside though, is that while you do get discounts for the companies and stores that you like, you still get a smattering of advertisements for services and stuff that you can’t care a whit for, filling your email inbox with offers you are not even interested in. Enter Facebook Offers. Launched early in 2012, this new Facebook feature let the companies whose Pages you liked post their offers on your timeline. You finally get targeted offers that you would care for. Not only that, you also have the option to share it to your friends who would also like the offer. While the benefits for consumers does not beg any explanation, for companies, this would mean a wider net of exposure for their businesses. The “word of mouth” phenomena will obviously mean additional promotion for free. We already know the power social media weilds in promoting articles and memes online. Facebook is giving companies the power to use social networking to their advantage in ways that was better than before. It’s empowering consumers as well, giving them the choice to get offers only from the companies that they like.  Whether you’re a consumer looking out for the next awesome deal, or a business owner trying to gain more customers, you can’t go wrong with Facebook Offers. It’s easy, convenient, and readily sharaeable! So give it a shot today.