Friday, March 20, 2009

It's ALL about Brand (Management)

Why I am writing this?
Because in less than two months, il be officially a Management student,so I am just getting into the mode :P
And there is a lotta hue and cry about facebook changing its layout.

And here's what I gotta SAY.

Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites in the world (and when I say world you can imagine the amount of users I am talking about). 'Google it' in our answer to what ever we don't know, 'Facebook it' is ours, when we have to share stuff with people (photos,notes,messages etc).
Facobook's status today stands only after Google when it comes to the online business, now that's a big thing.

The applications on facebook are all user generated and they are free, has anyone pondered the fact why people put these applications for free on facebook, which they themselves have generated?
They don't get money outta it, its still Mark Zukerberg who makes all the cash.
He makes money by putting Advertisements on the sidebars, yes the ones we click.
Yes, facebook is free but we the users are the people who are instrumental in making it run, if there are no users, there would be no Ads hence no money for it to run.

Its a user driver site, the makers cash in on the fact that peple spend hours facebooking, and when people are addicted to a product (facebook), they can't change it without customer support . There is bound to be backlash. After all, we all feel connected to Facebook, its our mini-online home, isnt it!
I am sure if there are changes in my room which I don't like ill surely protest.

The layout is one of the most important aspects of a website, playing with it, without a good amount of market research and customer feedback is absolute foolishness. (Something which wasn't expected outta Facebook)

Last month I got an opportunity to interview Mr. Kiran Khalap (he heads Chlorophyll, the top most Brand Consultancy in the country) where he pointed out to me that today for a Company to be successful its very important that it sticks to its core values, because customers get attached to a brand and start relating to it. The word he used was OWNERSHIP, today customers own the brand. They are emotionally attached to it.
Any change in the product is bound to cause an impact.

Like with facebook, users own it, therefore no one has the right to disturb it.
And if they do they will loose their customers big time.

As for me, if they wont change the layout I am outta quit fb and a loota others like me will follow suit.
Then how in the world will they make money, one golden rule "Never mess with your Customers",
I hope something is done before it too late.

Remember the Old coke and New coke case.

I still got tons to write but a chapter on Bacterial amylase is calling me, the floor is open for a discussion.

10 comments:

Shaunak Mukherjee said...

Very interesting view. A friend of mine, Sanvar Oberoi has done a small write-up on this. Check it out here:
http://www.befoxy.in/facebook-never-google
and check back on my blog when you can. I'm gonna do a repeat/reply-post to this.

Anonymous said...

hey shaunak
read that post
i guess this makes for my first case study
n yes im a die heart google fan n yes google never would compromise it still has a white background on it search engine
well got lots to write
later ill surely put it up

gypsy said...

creating blue oceans from red oceans and all that jazz...

management haan...

congrats... :)

Moksha said...

pretty knowledgable

Anonymous said...

Bacterial amylase ?? Absolutely no idea what it is ! :D

Post reflects the amount of thought you have put in- I never knew this all- have a facebook account though...
Have a nice day !

Anonymous said...

Management seems heavy ! :) All the best

Ajan said...

Hmm.. Interesting, I use Mozilla to browse the net,with a google toolbar and a couple of Add-Ons including Google gears, Stumble Upon, Speed Dial, Google Docs. People like to improvise rey. I mean, usually many used Yahoo Messenger a lot before GTalk and Orkut got connected. GTalk has many loop holes and Yahoo!'s interface is real friendly. All depends on how the interface is modified and experimented upon besides connectivity to other sites.
Let's see how well the FB interface works out!!

sjmach said...

wow we hav a new MANAGEMENT GURU...

Aayush said...

nice post aditi...

all said and done Facebook is not in profit generating mode which is imperative for a business to stand..

Even after so many users .. so many free apps , etc .. facebook is not generating money out of the whole website... !!
But when u consider Orkut , they are making a huge amount of money , and orkut is popular in limited countries !

Farcenal said...

You really are addicted to Facebook aren't you?

I think there should be e-hab centres for folk like us.

(get it? get it? e-hab? like rehab? see what I did there? Sorry, I'll get my coat...)