As if the brand needed more exposure (aside from its 800-million-plus users), this coming season, we’ll hear a lot of on and offline chirping regarding Facebook, the leading social media site (actually, an online destination sought more often than Google). This winter, a number of leading banks will vie to get friendly with Facebook, “besties” to the point where the social media giant will allow a particular bank to handle its IPO, expected early in 2012.
The interested parties are recognizable, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Facebook has made no official decisions as of yet, but brand executives have been holding ongoing meetings with Wall Street gurus since Thanksgiving.
Facebook, at the threshold of possibly one of the biggest deals this century (financial practitioners estimate the social media’s site stock could be valued as high as $10 billion, making the brand’s worth somewhere around $100 billion), is seemingly making methodical, on-site decisions, perhaps to “fatten” the mouth-watering deal for interested banks. Recently, “sponsored” newsfeeds were introduced to the platform. In addition, improved business pages, social paid search, and customized applications and plug-ins make the platform optimized for business.
Who is going to get the nod from Zuckerberg and crew?
Those in the world of finance, online marketing, and beyond, await the decision. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs rank number-one and two respectively in handling 2011, global, Web-related IPOs. The former brand holds the “lead left” role (the bank’s name is in the top-left spot on Zynga’s IPO prospectus, giving Morgan Stanley the perception of authority or fault if the IPO goes awry) regarding Zynga’s IPO.
It will be interesting to see how going “public” will influence the social media site and the intrigue of users, who have been vocal in the past regarding the Facebook brand’s on-site decisions. Could the public offering push brand executives to make the platform more enticing to businesses, increasing its business-centric implementations? If we track Facebook’s evolution, you can definitely see the platform trending toward commerce, broadening its landscape from its social and entertainment-based beginnings.
Facebook continually makes it more appealing for businesses to participate on the platform, but is it worth a small brand’s attention to participate? Recent stats reflect a small relation between how consumers seek brand-related information and social sites. However, the stats could be due to a lack of participating businesses, or a lack of insight regarding the desires of consumers leveraging social sites.
One bank is getting a financial facelift this winter. In addition, Facebook will enjoy more public exposure. Online marketing practitioners will keep a vigilant watch on major decisions and ripples felt throughout the Web. Perhaps if the IPO goes well, we’ll see more major banks putting on a happy face in the near future, interested in getting friendly with other popular, online entities.
