12/2/11
Marketing
Selling Facebook Facebook is the most used social networking website on the Internet. It grows in users and features almost everyday. It is the product of a dream of one man, Mark Zuckerburg. Besides Google, it is the most easily recognizable website. In this modern age of technology it is near impossible to meet someone who does not have a Facebook or know someone who has a one. The prodigy, Zuckerburg, controls Facebook but one day he will need to step down from his regulatory position. This situation raises the questions, will he sell the company, and how will he market the company to buyers? If Facebook is ever sold, Zuckerburg’s dedication to his company goals, Facebook’s ability to always outgrow competitors and, the uniqueness of the constantly evolving website features, would be the key points used to market the company. From Facebook’s inception, Zuckerburg has always been dedicated to making a product that people will love. For the first several years of his company, he was taking loans and paying out of his pocket for servers for the website. The original revenue from advertisements was barely enough to turn a profit. The book, the Facebook Effect, says, “You need to be good in order to get people's trust, he says. In the past people just didn't expect goodness from companies. I think that's changing now. I often say inside the company that my goal was never to just create a company, Zuckerberg explains… A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don't care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being just a company means to me is not being just that—building something that actually makes a really big change in the world" (330). Zuckerburg knows that his company is extremely profitable, but he will not sacrifice goal of creating a company that changes the world and that the public can trust. Potential buyers of Facebook will without a doubt recognize Zuckerburg’s dedication to making a company that has a great public image because it has served the needs of people and never strayed away from its goals. In addition to Zuckerburg’s image, Facebook has been able to stay one step above its competitors and remain unique since its inception. Facebook will always have the cream of the crop when it comes to hiring the brightest young engineers available. Zuckerburg has always asked graduate students to quit school and start working because he has always wanted young blood and ideas in his company, and if they don’t like Facebook, he will personally pay their tuition if they decide to go back to school. Furthermore, summer internships are offered each year to bright young minds and kids from improvised backgrounds. Moreover, Facebook’s has been able to transfer its popularity the college market, where it originally made its success, to the rest of the world. The book notes, “Zuckerberg disagreed. His view was consistent and clear—Facebook needed to go beyond college and become a site everybody could use to connect with their friends” (185). Zuckerberg knew the opportunity Facebook had when leaving the college market and he capitalized on it, proving that Facebook can be successful in several different markets. Facebook will always be a marketable company because of its ability to pick up bright young minds and penetrate several different markets, making it attractive to any buyers.
While Facebook’s image and unique ability to always be different than its competitors have been