The Power to Overthrow Facebook

15Dec07

There was a time when marketers ruled the world. We mass produced everything. Faced little competition. Charged what we liked for our products. And consumers, with few options available to them, happily bought what we sold. But with the dawn of information age came choice. And power.

A poignant example of how consumers now control marketing is the recent coup on Facebook. Recently, Facebook unleashed it’s latest advertising program, Beacon. The idea behind the program (and a sound one, as demonstrated by the increasing popularity of customer reviews) is that we are influenced by the opinions and actions of our peers. So why not broadcast, via the Facebook news feed, purchases made by a user across Beacon-participating sites?

For example, you might see a story in your feed the reads “John bought a coffee table at Pottery Barn”. This is a marketer’s dream. Not only does the feed story act as an endorsement for our brand, it promotes commercial conversation within the world of Facebook. And since users are able to opt-out, it doesn’t infringe on their privacy. But here’s the glitch.

When the program was first launched, permission was assumed. Users were not notified that their purchases on outside sites, such as Overstock.com, would be broadcast to their friends. Nor did they know that such sites participated in the Beacon program to begin with. It wasn’t until a potentially embarrassing story was published in their feed that they realized the need to opt-out. One particularly sad example is how a man’s marriage proposal was ruined when his purchase of an a engagement ring was announced via the news feed to his girlfriend.

The outcry came when 50,000+ users joined a group entitled “Petition: Facebook, stop invading my privacy!”. What’s interesting is that this group contained members of advertising agencies and large packaged-goods marketers, all of whom know better than to assume we have permission to speak with you.

The result? Facebook has revamped the Beacon program and now requires an explicit OK from users before the story is published. A testament to the power of web and its ability to provide immediate feedback. And of the media industry’s willingness to listen and react quickly. But more importantly, of the ability of consumers to create change in the way we market to them.

Users have since developed a Facbook app called Bonfire that pokes fun at Beacon. The application allows you to publish your own Beacon-esque stories to your feed by selecting the appropriate verb and noun. For example, I could write “Lindsay bought crotchless panties at Mis’Behavin” to elicit a response from friends. A bit of a slap in the face for Facebook, but all in good fun.

Filed under: marketing, pop culture   |  1 Comment
Tags: advertising, Beacon, Bonfire, Facebook, marketing, social networking