By Christina Occhipinti
Back in October, I blogged about how I felt Facebook is a social media tool that can no longer be ignored by brands and the companies that market them. A game changer that has altered the way companies view social media, Facebook has given brands an opportunity to reach their consumers in a much more personal and interactive manner that hadn’t been done before.
Fast forward three months, and I sit here surprised to learn that one of the world’s largest consumer products companies has announced that its goal for 2010 is to embrace Facebook as part of its marketing plan. The package goods giant is encouraging all of its brands to create Facebook pages, and they’ve opened a Silicon Valley office to help “develop social-networking systems and digital-marketing capabilities with the website.”
Often large, global companies are behind the curve when it comes to adopting new marketing technologies and techniques, and that’s obviously the case with Facebook and social media. At Robin Leedy & Associates, we created our first client Facebook page back in 2008 and a large percentage of our clients will have Facebook pages that we’ve created and managed by the end of this year. I think that one of the benefits of social media is that it has leveled the playing field somewhat between large and small companies.
Even the Vatican has accepted Facebook and social media with open arms. Eight months ago, Pope Benedict XVI tapped into Facebook with his own application called Pope2You, which lets users receive messages and photos from him. Pope Benedict XVI even has his own iPhone application, and he has recently encouraged Catholic priests to spread the word of the Church by blogging and using digital communication tools.
I personally will find it interesting to see if latecomers to Facebook are hurt by the decision to enter the social media arena so late in the game.