You might recall that General Motors recently pulled all their advertising from Facebook’s pages and claimed that the ads weren’t really working for them. Of course, GM’s actions took place just days before Facebook’s much anticipated initial public offering, so it really grabbed everybody’s attention.
Today, The Street published an article claiming that Facebook had indeed dissed General Motors by not allowing them to take over whole pages with their marketing efforts. As Ad Age put, advertising on Facebook has always been subtle, which apparently wasn’t working for the Detroit auto giant who insisted it must positioned in a more prominent light.
But it is no secret that Facebook isn’t all about just merely positioning products to please advertisers. Their number one responsibility seems to be to their users and they are very conscious about making display decision which might turn their users off. So it’s a moral stand which Facebook made against GM, at least in the opinion of Ad Age and the Street.
Regardless of who did what or who refused to budge, Ford Motors, one of the first to take advantage of Facebook’s pricey logout ads, seems to be loving the advertising space on the site. In fact, Ford is offering a whole new line of Blue Oval-branded products which will be featured on Facebook.
Users who visit Ford’s fan page or several other related automotive places will see Ford t-shirts, toy cars, and select other merchandise featured on the right lower side of their wall. So while this format does not agree with GM, Ford is taking a more progressive stance, and making the best possible use of the product positioning opportunities.
The overarching theme from both, the Street and Ad Age is that GM is still entrenched in an old model of marketing (and perhaps way of conducting business overall) while Facebook is attempting to promote and advance a more user-centric way of advertising and brand promotion.
Ford is also embracing this spirit. They too have abandoned outdated company-originated development practices in favor of more opensource-oriented innovation efforts. They are doing their best to get community and fans alike involved in propelling the company forward and maintaing a competitive advantage.