' If you can't beat them in their core competencies then simply buy them ', has been mantra for Facebook in their quest to dominate the social media, across the globe. Facebook, by far the best ever social networking venture the world has ever seen, has been bullish in their approach to capitalize on everything that is trending in the world of social media.
Facebook initially started as a portal to share pictures and posts and was available only for students of Harvard University to begin with and then went onto become the most popular social networking destination and has grown by leaps and bounds since it's inception i.e 4th of February 2004. It has been the most popular website for several years now, only after Google and there is no doubt in their success as they have precisely bridged the gap in the society by linking people over the virtual network.
Facebook has made as many as 45 mergers and acquisitions since 2005, with Whatsapp - the instant messaging app for smart cell phones being the latest entrant in the list, this is a clear evidence of Facebook's hunger and appetite to dominate the world of social network. Currently with almost 2 billion active users of FB, Instagram and Whatsapp put together, the company and its products are the most used or talked about across the world.
The most interesting part of Facebook's journey has been their strategic acquisitions with the course of time. Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman & CEO of Facebook INC. and his team have been very particular about each and every
M & A that they have inked as every deal
of their's has not only added a value to
Facebook's business model but has also
been a fruitful venture in terms of
monetary benefits that it has added to
the company's bottom line. Especially
the apps like Face.com made by an Israeli company that helps Facebook users to recognize people by their face and tag them have been some landmark achievement by Facebook in terms of mapping the real world with virtual world .Now with Instagram - the picture sharing app being named as the most trending and frequently downloaded app on Google's Play Store for Android phones and Whatsapp out smarting the BBM as the most used messaging app on smart phones, Facebook couldn't have asked for anything better to be in their kitty.
From getting themselves listed in NASDAQ and releasing the largest IPO ever in the history of the world to buying of most unheard start up from a metropolitan city of India, Facebook INC. has always taken Big - Bold decisions and has been effectively able to write off the speculations of reaching the saturation point and has timely sent out a strong message that they are here for a Marathon run.
As an MBA in making, what interests me more is not just the journey that Facebook has embarked so far but analysing the next move that they make in terms of expanding their business. As the buzz of Whatsapp merger sinks in the minds of people I wouldn't really be surprised if Facebook comes out with yet another giant leap by acquiring Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest or Snapcha or by enabling these features in their website to further strengthen their dominance in the world of Social Networking.
Reference Links:
http://static1.businessinsider.com/
http://www.alexa.com/topsites
http://newsroom.fb.com/news
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/9269601/The-biggest-IPOs-in-US-history-in-pictures.html
Marketing
has been an effective tool for many organizations to promote their goods,
services, ideas etc. for centuries now. In my previous post I tried to shed
some light on how the world is utilising the digital platform for marketing and
reaching the target audience effectively.
Marketing these days has become a mandate for a unique section of the society,
viz. our politicians. With an eye on Indian General Election 2014, many
political parties and renowned politicians have upped the ante to promote themselves
as the next Superman or Spiderman, projecting themselves as the only saviours of
this doomed nation.
The recent triumph of Shri. Arvind Kejrival and Aam Admi Party in Delhi
assembly polls is a perfect example of 'striking the rod when hot', here the
rod was the bruised and ill governed state of Delhi and the hammer was their
marketing technique which helped them promote their ideas and thoughts amongst
the masses using various marketing tools. Largely the credit of their victory goes to the marketing stint that they pulled for about a year to lure the
voters of Delhi,
as they hardly had any political experience to showcase. Although it’s been
over a month now that Shri Kejriwal has come to power but the fulfilment of
the promises that he made in his manifesto seem to be a far fetched dream for
Delhi-ites for obvious reasons moreover his anarchist approach and disrespect towards the democracy has been out rightly condemned by citizens of Delhi itself.
On the other hand we have a strong contender (most of my readers probably
consider him as our next Prime Minister), Shri. Narendra Modi. One of the
credible News Daily quoted that Shri. Modi has roped a global PR firm APCO in
order to promote him and his work not only in India but all across the globe. Not
to forget that the state of Gujrat administered by Shri Modi for over 11 years,
ranks 11th in Human Development Index in India, which is below 5-6 states
governed by their arch rivals INC.
Not too far is the Indian National Congress,one of the oldest political
parties of India which boasts to have governed our nation for the maximum period of time. The
INC has recently hired a PR agency for a price of whooping INR 500
Crores to create a buzz for Shri Rahul Gandhi (Head of Election
Campaign) on social media. Considering the amount being invested, it
appears that we are all set to face yet another scam on the lines of Coalgate
and 2G spectrum, how else do you think a political party can afford to pay such
a huge sum as advertising expenses.
In my personal opinion there is nothing wrong in promoting oneself or one's
political party or its ideology amongst the masses. In fact as a marketer it
cheers me up to see a new set of customer base being built in the form of our
politicians who have resorted to non conventional ways of marketing and are
exploring different platforms and tools, willing to spend huge amounts of
money. Although this provides a marketer with an opportunity to earn more, what
concerns me as a citizen of India
is whether we are going to judge or choose our next generation leaders based on
their promotion.I still believe that as citizens of this nation we need to
make our choices based on the developmental and constructive work done by our
leaders and not merely based on the lip service they offer. Choosing a correct leader to govern the nation is equally important as choosing a job for ourselves, because it has a direct impact on our lives.
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