Facebook. Everyone knows it, and more than 750 million people are on it. If they get to an average fb penetration across the world, one day, they will have 2.5bn users! Amazing is an understatement.
But as much as Facebook is part of the fabric of life for many people, my perception is that the connection with the brand, for many users is a functional one. Yes, they may feel Facebook grants them a window to the world, a reconnect with old friends, and they might get all emotional if the internet is down and they have to do a day without fb … BUT: shouldn’t there be more? Otherwise put: can’t there be more?
I am a huge facebook fan myself. Call me an addict; from day one. I have noticed however that I am gradually using other social media: Twitter seems to be better for a quick broadcast and more and more people are liking/using it; LinkedIn proves to be a great source of information (especially in the groups), is good for exposure, and almost became a must-have; Google+ is interesting and engaging in a whole new way, and Pinterest is a joy when it comes to design and visual language. Heavy competition for Facebook. Its functionality has lost its value-add in many ways; and it certainly isn’t the make or break anymore. On top of that, a lot of the social media platforms have converged and offer more or less the same thing. Commoditisation is happening! A warning sign for every marketer. And facebook doesn’t seem to care much about that.
That said, isn’t it time Facebook put serious effort in branding? Isn’t it time they went for an emotional overlay over-and-above their profile upgrades? Offering Fb Timeline may not cut it! With the world around them growing stronger, social-media-competition becoming better, smarter and cooler, all offering similar functionalities, the paradigm will soon shift from functional benefits to branding (“what cool platform do I want to associate myself with?“).
The branding battle of the social media brands has begun!
Zuckerberg may be a brilliant visionary (read: a kid with a persistent idea that changed the world as we know it) and a very knowledgeable programmer, he surely doesn’t strike me as a BIG marketing thinker. [Yep, I know that is a controversial statement]. But think about this: Zuckerberg’s arrogance might just prevent his entourage from making it clear that Facebook needs to take the next step in its brand life.
So, the question I have is: are they stuck? Or … will they be stuck soon? Stuck in their early brand image, in their thinking around the brand as a launch proposition which sole goal was to get as wide a geographical reach as possible?
It is time for Zuckerberg to separate Facebook’s INTERNAL (i.e. by users) IMAGE from its EXTERNAL (i.e. by non-users and lapsers) IMAGE. The descrepancy might just be growing. And with some of the issues around privacy, the image might just have gotten one knock on the head too many.
My reco for Facebook’s brand & communication strategy from here onwards:
> Bank on the lovers. Focus on the ones that will never leave facebook. Take them by the hand and make them keepers for ever. Make the brand (and not just the technical experience) larger than life. Facebook is already part of their life today, but needs to recognise and reaffirm that in a new and nice way.
> Address the issues of the haters and lapsers. Drop the arrogance. Facebook is not a sole and unique player anymore. World domination is a nice aspiration if you have something that no one else has to offer. That has long been the case, but is not longer true. The wishes of the non-users become more important to address, to get them into the footprint. On top of that, Facebook is pretty much entrenched in youth as a core user group. They’ll have to go wider and older if they want to keep aiming for global domination. That for sure requires a change of imagery from where they started.
> Invest in the brand image. Start building an unbreakable LIFESTYLE brand. Make facebook more than a tool. Make it an icon, a badge. Advertise, man, before it’s too late an someone else takes your turf with a cooler “brand”. Create a deep brand story, a brand understanding, and a coolness no one else can take. And not just on social media – that would be too easy and too obvious almost. Wouldn’t it be eye-opening to see a 30″ facebook commercial on tv?
> Put more effort in the design part of facebook, in the look and feel. If you step back, and compare too other social media sites, facebook’s straight, boxed layout is very old-fashioned. Time for a more curvy, female touch?
for the fun of it…
Thank you for reading this post,
