In recent years, the social network experienced some blows to its reputation in adland amid a broader industry reckoning on consumer privacy and snafus over performance measurement. And that’s not to mention data security and content-curation concerns.

Some believe that such controversies were a key motivator of the timing of the social media giant’s decision to rebrand as Meta in October 2021. Earlier this week, Insider reported that Sandberg’s influence at the top tiers of the company had been waning in recent years, a development that may lead some to ask just what role ads will play as the social media giant seeks to establish a formidable presence in the metaverse.

An ‘indispensable’ platform

Despite its knocks in recent years and unquestionable challenges from rivals such as Tik Tok (plus other media offerings), it’s worth noting that Meta’s advertising empire is still on the rise. Emarketer forecasts that it will generate $167 billion of revenue in 2024, a projection that would see it pocket 22% of all digital ad spend.

Several buy-side sources told Digiday that while Facebook’s scale and trove of first-party data helped ensure that media spend on the platform performed well, brand suitability issues had always been a concern.

Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, told Digiday that while the departure of Sandberg was certainly a blow, the platform will continue to win over advertisers’ budgets. “However, the reality is Meta is (generally) an indispensable ad platform,” he said. “From a performance marketing standpoint, it is still, by and large, the most effective. So long as they continue to deliver results, they’ll keep receiving ad dollars.”

A second source from one of Madison Avenue’s major holding companies, who requested anonymity due to potential client concerns, echoed this opinion but distinguished that brand suitability was always a challenge for Facebook, particularly after the issue escalated in 2020.

“To be honest, I think the Cambridge Analytica stuff kind of got a pass [among advertisers], and while it raised awareness, it was in summer 2020 with the Black Lives Matter movement [in response to the murder of George Floyd] that’s when things really started kicking off,” added the source. “Some brands kind of see [Facebook] a necessary evil.”

The face of Meta on Madison Avenue?

Sandberg is due to vacate her role in the fall of 2022, although she will remain on Meta’s board, with a successor on track to be chief growth officer Javier Olivan, an exec who was described to Digiday by several sources as “a product guy” …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron