Procter & Gamble, the world's largest marketer, is making Facebook a central piece of its marketing efforts this year, encouraging all of its brands to build a presence on the social network and setting up a Silicon Valley office to help develop marketing capabilities with the site, according to Ad Age.
P&G's Facebook push is part of the company's larger effort to reach 5 billion consumers globally, up from the 4 billion it currently reaches.
One of P&G's main goals for 2010 is for each of its brands to develop a meaningful presence on Facebook, and the marketer is ready to invest heavily in that, as evidenced by the Silicon Valley office. In a meeting with venture capitalists last week, P&G executives expressed skepticism over Facebook's "engagement ad" format, but viewed Facebook as a crucial part of online brand building.
Twitter, on the other hand, does not fare well in P&G's plans. The company views Twitter as a broadcast tool, but does not think the microblogging tool has the same value as Facebook or Google when it comes to brand building and advertising.
P&G's Facebook focus may sound surprising after GM of interactive marketing Ted McConnell publicly criticized social networks in November 2008, famously saying, "What in heaven's name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?" McConnell was speaking for himself and not the company at the time, according to a spokesperson.
