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Gordon's Republic

Facebook facing the Future

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If you missed yesterday's Marketing Society Annual Conference this is what Facebook commercial director Blake Chandlee had to say about the social media site and brands.

What can other brands learn from Facebook?

If you have a good idea and it meets consumer need this can have an enormous impact. Two years ago, Facebook didn’t really exist but they haven't had to spend advertising budgets, it has virally taken off. Consumers will spend an enormous time with your brand if you provide value for them. Facebook is not the same company as one year ago, it has changed dramatically. It’s no longer just about college students. Facebook has reinvented itself three times in the last year. So just because it’s right today, doesn’t mean it’s right tomorrow.

How can traditional brands tap into the opportunities of social networking?

It takes a totally different mindset. Social networking is not about interruptive marketing because the minute a brand interrupts the consumer's world or imposes itself, there’ll be disappointment. Instead, it’s the concept of facilitating dialogue and conversation – that’s the way brands need to think because this will create value. One example of a brand already doing this is the Trip Advisor campaign on Facebook which lets people plot where they've visited. It's a very popular application and it doesn’t cost anything to do. They’ve created a unique application that's filled a void.

What's the biggest challenge facing you in your new role at Facebook?

First is putting the right team into place. And I can’t tell you how many new friends I’ve got on Facebook enquiring about opportunities! The second is education. There have been lots of conversations, both positive and negative, about how brands interact with social networking and issues like privacy controls and exposing brands. At the moment there's a vacuum in the leadership position around social networking and that’s what I’ll bring in my new role. It's about simplifying and educating. In order to accelerate spending I have to remove some of the concerns. I won't be able to remove them all because that's the nature of the medium, but it is something I plan to address.

In the world of Web 2.0, do marketing directors need a new set of rules to do their job well?

Basic marketing principles still apply. You still have to reach the right audience with the right message at the right time. But there are new tools for marketers at their disposal and better opportunities to narrowcast, rather than broadcast to consumers. The concept of engagement and time spent with a brand is a new variable that has to be considered. If you can find and engage communities of consumers you can do some neat stuff. We're in the age of dialogue and marketers need to consider the quality of the interaction and the impact.

What keeps you awake at night?

I’m the first Facebook employee outside the UK and the first in Europe. I've been inundated with enquiries and I’m ready to go but I can’t at the moment. I've guess I've got gardening leave frustration.

Published Nov 21 2007, 01:49 PM by Gordon Macmillan

Filed under: Facebook, social media, Web 2.0

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