For the past two weeks I’ve laid off commenting on
Facebook and its IPO, deciding instead to watch the frenzy from afar. Wow, that was fun. Looks like retail clients will get hosed,
along with some institutional clients (that weren’t privy to Morgan Stanley’s
earnings warning to its “select” clients before the IPO) who got a load more shares than asked
for. So, the stock is now down over 20%—likely on its way to about $15 where it belongs. The future for technology stock IPOs has been tainted for years, perhaps permanently. And the best part: the hair-pulling, name-calling slapfest between lawyers, bankers,
NASDAQ and the SEC has begun. Couldn’t
see that coming at all.
The Morning After at Morgan Stanley
The one benefit of the Facebook fallout is that publically-traded social media companies are now under intense scrutiny. Because they are no longer funded
with private equity—start-up capital that was returned with a handsome profit
with the IPO—they have to face public shareholders who want performance and
results. If the Facebook doesn’t deliver they will hammer the stock and demand
changes, despite Zuckerberg's controlling interest.
This, in turn, puts pressure on agencies. All those hyped metrics they’ve been
touting—engagement, conversations and brand awareness—now have to translate
into dollars. Serious dollars. And with
shareholders breathing down the necks of their clients, it seems that the days
of no accountability are coming to an end. Almost.
To stall for time, I imagine the bean-counting holding
company behemoths and their C-level executives will shift the blame wholly upon
the working stiffs—the creatives who do the work while the others make the
arrangements (h/t Bob Hoffman)—to protect their mega-million dollar
salaries. Expect layoffs galore as they
point fingers, distract, and deflect blame away from the real reason for
declining earnings and shrinking client base.
But the day is coming when shareholders will realize these highly paid
executives are enriching themselves at their expense and they’ll storm the
annual meetings with torches and pitchforks looking for someone to blame. It’s likely, though, they’ll run out of tar
and feathers before they get rid of the lot.
Playing to Strength
The real value of Social Media is in managing existing customers. With a new client in the fold, over the next
few months I’ll be using Facebook to its fullest. It will be part of an integrated campaign (mass, OOH,
Web, radio) to support the re-launch of a +100-year old brand. The product, unavailable for close to a
decade, was brought back three months ago.
It is only available at just a handful of locations for the moment, yet
its Facebook and Web pages are receiving the most incredible unsolicited testimonials. People have written about how they have
missed it, and how relieved they are that they can get it again—one guy and his
buddies went on a 90km road trip to get some.
Remarkable for something that hasn’t been around since 2004.
 |
| Orange Appeal |
The creative challenge for the re-launch is to let the tens of thousands of
past users know that the product is back on the shelves. The main tactic in all media will be to highlight the product’s
distinctiveness—not its differentiation from others in the category. The product is immediately recognizable to those who remember it; there is no need for persuasion, no hard sell.
Just the sight of the packaging will be
enough to remind people how much they trusted a product that was a part of
their family for generations. As the
campaign rolls out, I’ll tell you what it is and ask what, if anything, you
recall of the product.
No comments:
Post a Comment