Facebook exec in Israel to launch Nana10 partnership

"The most successful possibility for us at the moment is to connect with a local partner, in this case Nana10," said Facebook head of strategy and planning for EMEA Trevor Johnson in an interview with "Globes."

Johnson added, "It is clear that over time we will examine the success of this move and its outcome. In the future we will see if it is possible to set up a Facebook R&D Center in Israel. I cannot say that we have plans to open such a center at the moment but of course that can change."

Johnson is in Israel this week following the representation and marketing agreement that was signed in January between Facebook, the world's largest social network, and portal Nana10, which is owned jointly by NetVision Ltd. (TASE: NTSN) and Channel 10. As part of the agreement Nana10 will be exclusively responsible for marketing Facebook products to Israeli advertisers and an official partner of Facebook in Israel.

Johnson said, "I have come to Israel as part of a longer visit to the Middle East in order to launch partnerships that we have with local representatives in the countries of the region. In this context Israel is one of the markets that has the largest number of active users alongside a mature advertizing market and is ripe enough for the creation of a local presence here."

He continued, "The partnership is for three years although if it is successful it will continue after that. It is clear that there are sales targets but I don't want to reveal them."

Market sources expect sales revenue to reach NIS 15 million annually.

Johnson was more forthcoming about market share. He said, "I believe that Facebook's advertising activities will reach about 20% of Israel's annual online advertizing pie. This is a very important market for us because of the major involvement of Israeli surfers we see this market as a huge opportunity. This is a mature advertizing market and even though it is relatively small it has large potential. We have no intention of coming to Israel for a year and then leaving we are here to stay and invest for the long term."

He added, "The Israeli surfer on Facebook is one of the most active in the world. An Israeli surfer spends an average of 27 minutes on Facebook each day, which is more time than the Israeli surfer spends on Google , Walla and You Tube put together.

Johnson claims that 56% of Israeli surfers visit Facebook each day. He said, "We are talking about the second largest platform in Israel after Google in terms of the number of surfers."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 2, 2010

Facebook exec in Israel to launch Nana10 partnership

Trevor Johnson: In the future we will see if it is possible to set up an Israel Facebook R&D Center.