• Forbes.com, Friday, May 22, 2009 10:15 AM

Electronics company Philips and the Walgreens pharmacy chain are amongst the first paying companies on BzzScapes, a new social networking site specifically designed for discussions about brands.

Launched by BzzAgent, a Boston-based word-of-mouth marketing firm, BzzScapes allows users to follow and interact with brands by creating "communities" where they can upload pictures, add links and upload videos to each brand's profile. Companies can, in turn, respond back to consumers with pictures, comments, coupons and even private conversations.

Brands can pay BzzAgent to receive trend reports and detailed personal profiles of users. If communities need help growing, BzzAgent will invite some of its 550,000 established product testers to leave their comments. For every new person who joins, BzzAgent charges the brands.

Read the whole story at Forbes.com »