Why marketing companies will allow access to Facebook

A month ago, Budweiser entered into a deal with Facebook to stream the opening match of the FA Cup live on FB. Thirty thousand football fans saw tie - Ascot United playing Wembley FC. [caption id=“attachment_89608” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“AFP”]  [/caption] Just 30,000? Budweiser sees the potential, not the performance, as exciting. “Budweiser is committed to bringing the world’s most prestigious knockout competition closer to the fans. What better way to demonstrate this than by broadcasting the very first kick to a global audience via Facebook,” said Budweiser marketing director Ian Newell said in a BBC report. Two weeks ago, Vodafone launched a phone that targeted the Facebook user. The marketing strategy rested on an extravagant 120 second commercial, “A tribute to Facebook.” Why does Vodafone make a TVC on Facebook? Kapil Arora, who oversees all Vodafone activity at Vodafone’s advertising agency, Ogilvy, shares the background. “Given Facebook’s rapidly gaining popularity amongst youth across the country, this is a key market for the brand.” [caption id=“attachment_89614” align=“alignright” width=“250” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] The TVC features a protagonist who’s ‘always on Facebook.’ Yesterday, British Airways kicked off their new marketing campaign. The launch wasn’t on a TV channel; it was on Facebook. Will the Facebook launch work? Almost 100,000 FB users like the site. More than 25,000 saw the film in the first few hours. Now, it’s the turn of alcohol major Diageo to leverage the power of Facebook. “The current relationship (with Facebook) has seen Diageo enjoy strong return on advertising investment, with an initial study across five key brands in the US showing a 20% increase in sales as a result of Facebook activity. This 5:1 return has come off the back of Diageo’s brands growing their collective fan base from 3.5 million to 12 million in the past 12 months and Smirnoff becoming the number one beverage alcohol brand on Facebook worldwide,” says a company release. “The two companies will work together to push the existing boundaries of social media through co-created experiments leveraging the full capability of the platform. Facebook will also provide metrics to help Diageo define ROI and performance across its priority brands,” the statement adds. [caption id=“attachment_89641” align=“alignleft” width=“250” caption=“Reuters”]  [/caption] It’s apparent that, increasingly, marketers will target those who’re ‘always on Facebook’ on Facebook. Till there are case studies of successes on Facebook campaigns, marketers will do more than get their toes wet. But with Diageo showing increased commitment to Facebook based on their experience of a 20 percent increase in sales which they attribute directly to their Facebook activity, one can expect more brands to first study, and then follow, their lead. What should frighten mainstream media is this simple truth: Facebook has arrived as a medium and as an advertising option – for any brand in any category. Measurement of impact is easy and near-instant. Feedback is live and constant. Two-way communication is the rule. Involvement of ‘fans’ on Facebook is high. Diageo thanks Facebook for their 12 million fans. Which other medium can deliver that? The arrival of Facebook as an advertising option presents a new headache for HR heads at marketing companies and media and media planning companies. They’ll have to get their system administrators to unblock Facebook.