Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg tells marketers to stop posting boring ads in the newsfeed
The chief operating officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, appealed to marketers to use the medium like the most interesting users of the social network – and to avoid posting “boring” ads and think more carefully about the art of storytelling.
Ads on the medium are getting better and more relevant, but the industry needed to get to the point where every ad on Facebook is “delightful”, Sandberg urged delegates at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity today.
In a wide ranging interview that was well received by her audience, Sandberg also called on the industry to change how women are portrayed in advertising.
She also said that if Facebook launched today, it would have been a mobile app rather than designed for desktop computers.
“In the era of mass marketing, creative was king – that was what mattered in TV, radio and print. When the digital era emerged, the notion was the algorithms are what matters,” she said in an interview with AdAge. “But but that’s not the sort of digital that really builds brands online.”
The principle for creating ads for Facebook is the same as how the most engaging Facebook users use the medium, she said.
“Some friends post stuff that you’re exited to see, and some friends post boring stuff – the same principle applies [for marketers],” she said.
The opportunity for marketers on Facebook lies in the “resurgence” of storytelling, she said. “We’re seeing some companies take advantage of that, which is driving sales for their companies.”
The big opportunity for Facebook is in mobile, Sandberg said.
“It’s almost so obvious but mobile is so big; we’ve underestimated how big it would be,” she said, pointing to a statistic that 20 per cent of people in the US have used their phones during sex.
“The mobile transition happened at the time we went public. Mark [Zuckerberg, the company’s founder] has said if he’d started Facebook now, we would have started as a mobile app,” she said.
Shifting to a question about marketing on mobile devices, she pointed to a statistic in the US that shows that while people spend 20 per cent of their time on mobile devices, only four per cent of marketing budgets goes on mobile.
She commented: “Time transitions quicker than budgets. There’s always a lag. But there’s a big opportunity here, because marketing can become personal again.”
“What makes an ad that’s not produced just for you feels like it has – that’s great creative,” she said about what makes an effective ad on a mobile device.
Sandberg, who is a campaigner for equal rights for women, said that the state of gender equality in the corporate world was “depressing”.
She appealed to brands and agencies to think carefully about how women are portrayed in advertising, stressing the need for “real people” in ads and to create more imagery of “joyful fathering”.
Advertisers have a “big responsibility and a big opportunity” to address the imbalance in gender equality, she said, praising the ‘Labels Against Women’ ad for Pantene created by BBDO Guerrero in the Philippines.
“If we start expecting women to lead, it won’t be such a surprise when a creative director is a woman,” she said, echoing the statistic that only three per cent of creative directors globally are female.
Robin Hicks in Cannes
Why don’t FB do somthing about the newsfeed for Facebook for mobile (apple)? I might actually see some ads!
Facebook has missed the point, at least with me, as I was totally over seeing the same content I saw yesterday and the day before that, in my feed so the ads I actually didn’t see them.
What did I do next? I deleted Facebook from my mobile and picked up my trusty paperback book.
Don’t stress advertisers, I see your ads in real life just not on my phone.
Advertiseds owe it themselves to tell Facebook to GET STUFFED!
Advertisers, see you in real life – in the concrete jungle.
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Facebook is media led at present. IN my experience they are not set up to support the creative process to best use the platform and channels. At the moment, they are about getting the media end sold in.
If they shift this upstream to creative agencies, then the engagement would increase in a virtuous cycle to deliver a meaningful experience, then more brands using the platform, etc.
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Are you kidding me? Some of the most corporate, business bollox, condescending ad’s on Facebook are Ad’s by Facebook. (Facebook for business ad pops up – YAWN!)
Seriously!? Has anyone seen some of the photo’s of happy business folk dressed in smart casual attire? Far out Facebook? Your own ad’s really SUCK! They are so shite imho.
I advise everyone to NOT add their personal details to Facebook (date of birth, where they went to school etc). It is so easy to find out somebodies personal details from Facebook. In fact I just tried then and managed to obtain from a ‘distant friend’ (facebook friend, not ‘real’ close friend, their:
Full name
d.o.b
where they live
mothers name and consequently maiden name
where they went to school
and more…
Scary stuff in an age when we want to keep personal details hidden due to identity theft. I was also able to view loads of photo’s of that person too.
In Facebook’s quest for their users data, so they can serve up targeted ad’s, they are risking an epidemic of identity theft (because lets face it not all and sundry update their privacy settings…)
I predict a backlash and Facebook will be left to serve up un-targeted ad’s, (most of mine are not very well targeted, because I do not update my details on FB).
RECOMMENDATION:
Keep minimal details on Facebook about you and clamp down on your privacy settings good people. (Not to kill Facebook; to protect your identity) – Linkedin too don’t be stupid. (Re Linkedin, do not tell the world what degree you have; another way of nicking your identity. just say :’Graduate’. Be street smart.
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