Not many social media networks credit Karl Marx as their inspiration. But Empire Avenue believes in giving credit where credit is due. According to CEO and co-founder Duleepa Wijayawardhana the concept for Empire Avenue was born from an after-hours gabfest where Marx’s economic theories were under discussion. Marx believed that Capitalism inevitably devalues the worth of the worker. Such devaluation ultimately produces a demoralized labor force that mentally checks out before it clocks out. Can you relate?
Now, Wijayawardhana is no commie, but he feels that Empire Avenue can do its part in rectifying this situation by giving people their props and helping them increase their social net worth. Empire Avenue is designed to be a virtual Wall Street where regular, walking around people are the stocks. Empire Avenue users are given virtual currency to buy and sell shares in people, friends and corporate websites. The worth of each “stock” is determined in part by the user’s engagement on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and LinkedIn.
Sound creepy? Like some sort of Soylent Green dystopia where human capital is being harvested? Perhaps. Yet Wijayawardhana sees it differently: “I like to say we’re freeing people from digital slavery. A slave is someone who doesn’t know his value. If you are participating in social networking sites, those companies are making money off of you. You just don’t realize what those values actually are.”
Once Empire Avenue ascribes a monetary value to a user’s social networking behavior, that person can then work to increase that value. Eventually Empire Avenue plans to put features in place whereby stock prices could increase an individual’s real income. Adding advertising to their stocks’ homepages, for example.
So, speaking of value, what value might Empire Avenue have for your brand? Well, this virtual Wall Street could be an effective way to communicate your brand’s finer points to the real world. For instance, you buy “stock” in Cameron Diaz and she invites you to follow her Twitter. Buy “stock” in the Dallas Mavericks and you get an autographed pendant. Buy “stock” in TGI Friday’s and you get a coupon for a free appetizer. This sort of social media connection can be the perfect conduit to offer discounts, promote new products or to conduct a brand survey. Brand managers from Detroit to Dallas should be contacting their social media teams and their branding agencies to start dreaming up promotions to leverage this hot new social network for their brand.
After all, every good Capitalist should be always on the lookout for ways to motivate the masses. Just ask Karl Marx.
