Marketing Magazine – The Marketing Society Forum 19.01.11

Can Facebook compete with TV as a brand communication channel?

The social-media network is seeking to become the platform of choice for brand advertising, and is hosting a summit for UK digital agencies in an attempt to ascertain what brands require.

Yes, Steve Hastings, Planning partner, isobel

The head of ITV sales would no doubt suggest that TV is a unique product that reaches a high volume of people in a way other media, including Facebook, can’t.

Facebook would no doubt argue that it offers a more involved and involving communication channel that is more personal and bidirectional.

In the middle are communication planners, deciding how to split their budgets form a long list including TV and Facebook, in a way they would not have done a few years ago.

TV recognises Facebook’s power to generate conversations and satisfy addictions. Just look at Glee. Content ready for you on-demand, the brand available to you long after the show is off-air. The ability to share with mates, to ‘Like’, to comment.

Yet their roles are different. TV is good at starting conversations and Facebook better at keeping consumers engaged and extending the brand campaign.

Facebook’s role as a brand communication channel will only grow as our natural fear and hesitancy about exposing our content reduces.