Facebook's "Brand Promise"
I use Facebook to augment communication with some family across an ocean. For that purpose, Facebook works well. I have often wondered whether organizations are not blinded by the stats. The size of the numbers is staggering, but that’s only because staying in touch with globally dispersed families and friends is so universally appealing. In this age of content relevance, is Facebook a relevant channel to reach the right people for many businesses? I would argue no. If I am chatting with my niece about her school homework and I’m interrupted by an ad trying to hawk life insurance, is that valuable to me just because I was “sliced and diced” and “micro-segmented” as a good candidate for life insurance messages? I would again argue no. In fact, it has the opposite effect. I want to block that organization from my life.
I think there is room in the market for social networks to fulfill a variety of purposes and build their brands around context. In my mind Facebook’s “brand promise” is indelibly linked with “family and friends”. No matter how hard Facebook tries, I will always frame it in those terms. If there were a social network for “all things finance”, and I proactively sought to join and interact, then in my mind, that would be an opportune time to reach me with interesting and useful content. I would be more receptive to investigate further.
Is Facebook trying to mold the customer to it’s service instead of molding its service to the customer?
What are your thoughts on social networks as they are today and how we tend to “categorize” them for particular uses?