Group+11B



**History and Background of Companies Using Facebook** By: Hiroaki Miyajima On Nov 6th, 2007, Facebook founder and the CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced “Facebook Ads”, an ad system for businesses to connect with users and target advertising to the exact audiences they want. At the begging, 60 leading companies including Coca-Cola participated in the system. Facebook Ads launched with three parts: a way for businesses to build pages on Facebook to connect with their audiences; an ad system that facilitates the spread of brand messages virally through Facebook Social Ads; and an interface to gather insights into people’s activity on Facebook that marketers care about. Many companies use the ad system because Facebook ads is definitely powerful because they act as trusted referrals and reinforce the fact that people influence people and it’s no longer just about messages that are broadcast out by companies, but increasingly about information that is shared between friends. So we set out to use these social actions to build a new kind of effects.

Now, YouTube has the largest number of fans 22,176,161 people and then Coca-cola has the second largest number of fans 18,865,729 people. Starbucks has 17,727,179 fans. There is an interesting point that the company first reached 10,000,000 fans was Starbucks and that was on July 15th, 2010. Actually, YouTube reached 10,000,000 fans on August 5th, 2010, but now it leaves Starbucks behind and the number became more than twice. Coca-cola reached 10,000,000 on August 10th, 2010. I can say in this three months the fans of these companies increased dramatically and more companies are going to use Facebook as advertising tool.

In fact, U.S social network Ad spending is increasing. In 2009, the total amount was 1.4 billion and this year it became 1.68 billion. Then in 2011, it is going to be 2.09 billion. In 2011, Facebook’s share is going to be 1.06 billion as more than half amount of total Ad spending. I think I can say Facebook definitely becomes the center position of social media strategy of companies.

**Content of Coca-Cola’s Facebook Page** By: Samantha Dollinger  Today you can find Coca-Cola in virtually every part of th﻿e world and their [|Facebook page] shows it with all the love their friends are writing on their wall. Currently 18,719,055 people like the Coca-Cola page and the count is growing every day. Coca-Cola’s Facebook page boasts 37 videos of their advertisements and 166 videos their friends have posted about cute kids drinking Coca-Cola or stacked Coca-Cola cans falling down. There are also 31 photo albums posted by Coca-Cola and 9,562 pictures posted by their friends of various Coca-Cola cans and bottle caps.

Coca-Cola uses their Facebook page to advertise their product and name through promotions, games and by promoting new bands and concerts. A link to a “formula for happiness” page advertises a sweepstakes and promotes bands, a summer concert series and summer movies. By clicking on the Coca-Cola signature polar bear saying, “Ahhh…” you can send a friend a personalized pick-me-up message to a friend of the polar bear saying your message. Another link on their page allows you to play a mini game powered by Guitar Hero (Schroeder 2007). Coca-Cola advertises other products and companies on their site as well as advertising on those companies’ Facebook pages. Their Facebook page is interactive with their audience and is colored to associate viewers with the red Coca-Cola can. Coca-Cola’s Facebook page also has links to follow Coca-Cola on Twitter and connect with them on MySpace, YouTube and Bebo.

**Impact of Coca-Cola's Facebook Page** By: Alena Good  Coca-Cola Company is the number one leader of soft drinks in the world. Coca-cola was established in 1888 and today the company has several different variations of the soft drink, including Coca-Cola Cherry, Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Vanilla, Coca-Cola Light, Coca-Cola Classic, Coca-Cola Zero and many others. Being the largest brand of soda, Coco-Cola has changed the world.

Coca-Cola's Facebook brand page was originally created by two fans, before the social media network said that the company must also be invol ved (“Coca-cola closes in,” 2010). Since <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> their very first Facebook page and even today, Coco-Cola displays its page in ten different langua <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">ges (“Coca-cola closes in,” 2010). Also, <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> by allowing consumers to have a voice on the website, Coco-Cola has received an enormous amount of positive feedback about their products. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">It is through Facebook, that Coco-Cola is able to launch several different campaigns, get an abundant amount of support from fans and impact the world within seconds. Their ColaLife idea, for example, was sent across the entire globe and it is one of Coco-Cola’s many efforts to try and save children's liv <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">es (“Coca-cola closes in,” 2010). It is carr <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ied out by Coca-Cola putting in “airpods” in between the “unused space <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">between the necks of bottles” and these “airpods” carry “social products” such as vitamin A, water sterilization tablets, etc (“Coca-cola closes in,” 2010). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> Also, during the 2010 World Cup, Coco-Cola was the number one social media sponsor. Coca-Cola had 6.6 million online followers, including fans from their ongoing social media campaign called The Longest Celebration, which continuously got more and more popular as the World <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Cup progressed (Skepys, 2010). Throug <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">h Coke’s Facebook page, fans were able to nominate Coca-Cola as their favorite brand. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">Coco-Cola recently has also started a Facebook campaign to make people aware of Earth Month and help support Ocean Conservancy, the United States’ oldest and largest marine conservation organization. Through their Facebook campaign page, Coca-Cola is able to donate one dollar for every person who “oceanizes” themselves. Coca-Cola, for over a decade now, has been significantly helping the Ocean Conservancy by encouraging people around the world to help clean our oceans, and it is through Facebook that Coca-Cola is able to increase peoples’ awareness instantly and r <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">apidly (“Coca-cola dives into,” 2009). Coca-Cola believes they “can make a positive difference on the planet through [their] employees, [their] consumers, [their] partners – and [their] innovative product packaging” (“Coca-cola dives into,” 2009). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">Coco-Cola is not only being consumed in almost every part of the world, it is also impacting and helping many parts of the world! <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">**Content on Starbucks' Facebook Page** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">By: Jessie McElwee <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Currently, Starbucks has over 17,900,000 Facebook fans following their page and the number is growing everyday. The content posted on Starbucks' Facebook page is truly what makes the brand so successful. On their page, they have a link to a website mystarbucksidea.com where customers and employees can write in ideas that the company actually reads. In August 2009, Starbucks digital strategy manager, Alexandra Wheeler stated that over 75,000 ideas had been posted to the site and that in the first year of the website being up, 25 new ideas were implemented (Wong, 2009). The fact that Starbucks has a place for customers to reach out and be heard is one of the reasons it is so popular.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Additionally, Starbucks currently has a place on Facebook where you can reload or manage Starbucks gift cards. Customers are able to check balance inquiries or add more money to the card. The convenience of this application is another reason why so many customers follow the coffee shop online. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Starbucks has also used their Facebook page to promote new products, such as Via Instant Coffee, or to spread the news about events being held, like Free Pastry Day held on July 21, 2009, where customers received a free pastry after purchasing a beverage. By spreading the word about Free Pastry Day on Facebook, they were able to have 600,000 customers confirm their attendance to the event (Wong, 2009). <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">The effects of media globalization can easily be found on Starbucks Facebook page. One of the tabs on the page is labeled “Around the World” and it allows you to click on the flag of a country and then be redirected to a fan page from that specific country. Once there, you can share comments, ideas, etc with other customers from that region. This tab really helps to show how large of a company Starbucks is worldwide. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Lastly, Starbucks also has used their Facebook page to raise awareness. The CEO, Howard Schultz, took a trip to Rwanda in 2009 where he met with coffee farmers while also raising awareness of AIDS research (Wong, 2009). Facebook allowed the company to share the story with the world, in hopes that they understand where their products come from, as well as to let people know about an important cause. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">As you can see, Starbucks use of Facebook alone has allowed them the possibility to reach out to their customers, allow them to send in suggestions, inform them about new products, and educate them about different causes Starbucks is supporting.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">**Impact of Starbucks Facebook Page** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">By: Hayden Bernstein <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">In the world of ever-growing market and brand competition, companies need tools to differentiate themselves and connect with their consumers. Leading the way in this cooperative and interactive business model is Starbucks, with nearly 18 million fans of Facebook. As of July 2009, Starbucks surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook, but the battle for the top spot is fierce. Upon writing, Coca-Cola just over 19 million fans compared to Starbucks’ 17.9 million. This exemplifies the fast-paced and fluid nature of online marketplace. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Alexandra Wheeler is Director of Digital Strategy at Starbucks. She oversees the information and interaction on all the social media that Starbucks participates, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a blog of developing ideas which customers can comment on. When asked if the company’s participation in social media has resulted in bottom-line profits, Wheeler responds that “It’s the billion dollar question” (Wong). Correlating a return on investment (ROI) between social media and final profits is a tricky scenario. But aside from tangible returns, Wheeler points out that the social media is extremely good at making the customers feel connected to the brand as a whole. Sharing ideas, voting on polls, or just posting about their favorite drink all work together to cultivate brand loyalty. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Wheeler is also asked about any negative outcomes of their social media endeavors. She claims that there have been no incidents where the social media has backfired. Instead, she expounds on the success of their various charitable and promotional campaigns, explaining how they seem to take on a life of their own and spread extremely fast throughout the networks, especially Facebook. Facebook has bridged the gap between this enormous multi-national company and its millions of customers with a direct line of communication (in both directions). The consumer feels empowered while Starbucks receives valuable feedback on its products and services.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Future of Facebook ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">By Erica Ferguson <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In the past few years Facebook has become an essential marketing tool for businesses. The future calls for all businesses to participate. There are now more than 250 million users on this famous social networking site. Facebook has made online ad’s less interruptive and more in tune to the consumer. A recent development on the site is how advertisers can now track what particular people are into. For example if they’re engaged, a user might find themselves stumbling upon a lot of different ad’s related to weddings. They can now use what people are writing in their status updates to target potential consumers. If someone writes “just had taco bell yummy” they might randomly see ad’s for taco bell come up. The possibilities are endless.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Companies are even putting their stores on Facebook. Instead of going to their own personal sites you can order their products straight from Facebook, which is huge. Only very few companies have started this but I see many more companies doing this in the near future. Since people are on Facebook constantly, having a page for your business is key. Why have people go to you real website when you can have them visit you Facebook page where they can get updates on your business on a daily basis.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Brands can also find out how much traffic and activity is on their pages. Facebook provides them with demographic and geographic information. Consumers can also voice their on how they feel about a particular product, which can be very beneficial to companies. The only disadvantage of Facebook is that could end up like Myspace and lose popularity. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon. With the creation of Facebook came endless possibilities. Not only did it connect us to our friends, it connected us to the world. The future of Facebook is going to be a very bright one.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">References <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Coca-cola closes in on digital "holy grail".// (2010, August 27). Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//Coca-cola dives into new social media campaign during earth month.// (2009). Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Harbison, Niall. "E-Commerce through Facebook: 5 Examples That Work." The Next Web | TNW Is the International Source for Internet News, Business and Culture. 02 Nov. 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2010. <http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2010/11/02/e-commerce-through-facebook-5-examples-that-work/>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Sid Yadav, "Social network spending to hit 1.7 billion in 2010", VentureBeat, August 16. 2010. Web 2.0 21th Nov. 2010< <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> http://venturebeat.com/2010/08/16/social-network-ad-spending-to-hit-1-7-billion-in-2010/ __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">> __

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Schroeder,S., ( 2007, July 15). Coca-Cola Scam Hits Facebook. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/07/15/coca-cola-scam-hits-facebook-warning/

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Skepys, B. (2010, July 5). //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Coca-cola beats adidas // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">//in social media world cup stakes.// Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Stelzner, By Michael. "How Starbucks Engages Millions of Facebook Fans | Social Media Examiner." Social Media Examiner, Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle. 20 May 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <[|__http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-starbucks__][| -engages-millions-of-facebook-fans/]>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Wong, Elaine. "Why Starbucks Is the Top Brand on Facebook." Online Marketing | Branding | CMO | Marketing News | Chief Marketing Officer. 12 Apr. 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. <[] [|features/direct/e3idee9d1f93a71c575f89eb22566e7457b?pn=2]>.