Articles

Facebook And Advertising’s Strange Path Forward

Will big brand’s boycott of Facebook advertising change Facebook and the state of social media?

With every passing day, more and more advertisers are boycotting Facebook advertising (and other social media platforms). They are worried about something called “brand safety” (tldr: We don’t want our ads running next to content that might be contentious, political, religious, racist, sexist, fake news, conspiracy theories, you name it…). For brands it is perceived that ads running next to content like that is a signal that they support the message. For many, this is seen as an “about time” moment, and they are hoping that Facebook (and others) change their policies, in terms of what content gets published. I’m a little more cynical, and think that the timing is questionable. Do you believe that this is about brand safety and integrity, or is this just an easy “out” for brands? Meaning, instead of looking bad about cutting staff and marketing budgets (which is happening because of the pandemic), they can use this moment as an excuse, and it lays blame on Facebook instead of how these brands are shrinking/killing budget/letting go of employees? This is only happening (for now) in the US (the rest of the world has similar issues), and I’m left wondering if brands are living their true purpose (hence, the boycott), or if they’re using a moment in time to deflect the bad that is happening within their own organization? It feels more like virtue signaling verses a true concern (if brands were concerned, what took them so long?). This, and other current topics (driven by the questions above) were discussed along with Wendi Cooper (C Spot Run Productions), Bob Hoffman (Ad Contrarian), Joseph Jaffe (Corona TV), and host Bob Knorpp (always a good human) on the very excellent BeanCast Podcast (which I’ve been fortunate to be a guest on in the past). I don’t know what it is about BeanCast, Bob Knorpp and these other panelists, but there is always “something in the water” when we record these conversations that brings out a lot of stimulating ideas and insights (and some friendly disagreements too!).

Are you ready for this deep dive into the world of marketing? Here is: BeanCast #599 – Go Directly To Jail.

For about an hour, we discussed and debated the following topics:

Take a listen and jump into the fray…

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/851008105

Mitch Joel · BeanCast #599 – Go Directly To Jail

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.