Facebook to Meta: A rebrand gone wrong
How privacy concerns, whistleblowing, and lack of trust negatively impacted one of the worlds largest social brands repositioning tactics.
Introduction
We all know Facebook.
The giant that overtook the first social platforms (sorry Myspace). It’s been dominant for years, being used by millions of users and businesses around the world to have their voices heard.
Now, just about a year into the name change to Meta, I go into why they did it, what went well, and the things that they should have done to maintain their brand reputation.
Problem
Facebook made headlines in October of 2021. Not for anything positive, but for their lack of transparency on how they operate the platform and the information they hold onto - and share - about their users.
The whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook Product Manager, released tens of thousands of pages of documents that outline the practices being done by Facebook employees. This went viral, with people around the globe calling for the company to make immediate changes to the way they use personal data.
In a quote from the 60-Minutes video, Haugen stated:
”The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money.”
Haugen is stated as a hero by many, bringing very important issues to the public so we can ensure that all Social Platforms are monitored closely, mitigating issues and risks for the future.
Many politicians voiced their opinions and pushed to improve safety and privacy online. Facebook played a major role in the negativity and hate in the United States leading up to the Clinton vs. Trump elections.
All of this to say that this was Facebooks worst year….ever. They mismanaged the data privacy issues that were revealed, didn’t take responsibility for their actions, and continued to lose market share to their competitors as people began leaving Facebook in droves.
Although many thought Zuckerberg should have stepped down due to all these issues, he did not and decided to reimagine Facebook, and his companies, into something completely new and futuristic.
Solution
“Right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future. Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and identity on what we’re building toward.”
Facebook meet Meta.
Zuckerberg decided to reimagine the social platform that we all know, combining his businesses - Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus VR - and many more, into what is now called Meta.
The Meta Name
Here’s a quote from Zuckerberg about why they chose the name:
“We chose “Meta” because it can mean beyond.
This next chapter is a future made by all of us that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today — beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance and even physics. For our company, Meta is a reminder that there is always more to build.”
Zuckerberg goes further into the brand in this video, detailing the reasons behind it, the future of online engagement and interaction, and how this new technology and way of connecting with each other can be used personally and in business.
Amidst all the changes, Facebook decided to change agencies moving over to Spark Foundry to help them navigate the negativity and earn back the trust of its users.
Here are a few examples of the Meta brand design concepts, with a focus on including community and opportunity with the message “This Future will be made by all of us.”
The Verdict
Although the technology behind the Metaverse could be game-changing and having the ability to be fully engaged in a virtual world, many disregarded the potential for the new technology and saw this as a way of distracting people from the core privacy issues that Facebook brought with it.
If we had privacy concerns with Facebook, then what can we expect from Meta?
To summarize, the Meta brand change did more harm than good. Even though the technology could be very powerful in the future, it will take a lot of time to earn back the trust of the people (if it can ever happen).
What Zuckerberg failed to do was apologize for the issues, advise on how they are shifting and changing things internally, and how those changes will be brought to light in the Metaverse.