Facebook also offers targeted advertising opportunities. adidas' digital marketing group explained, "Wherever Banner ads- the company's major source of income-can our fans are, we're going to use Facebook to speak to target individuals by demographic or keywords based on them and we're going to try to speak to them in a locally the specific information they have placed in their profiles. relevant way." Adidas, for example, uses Facebook to promote specific Facebook has become an important part of con. labels within the company, target consumers regionally, sumers' everyday lives and, therefore, a critical com and give the brand a personal touch. The head of ponent in personal marketing strategies. Questions 1. Why is Facebook unique in the world of personal marketing? 2. Is Facebook just a passing fad or is it here to stay? What are the company's greatest strengths and risks? 3. How can Facebook overcome local rivals in China, India, and Korea? Sources: John Cassidy. "Me Media, " New Yorker, 15 May 2006. "Survey: College Kids like Pods Better Than Beer, " Associated Press, 8 June 2006, Richard MacManus, Facebook vs Asia's Top Social Networks, " www.readwriteweb.com, 30 March 2008 Kermit Pallison, "How to Market Your Business with Facebook, New York Times, 1 1 November 2009. Peter Caibelt, "Facebook Demographics and Stallgies Report 2010, 1 Strategy labs www.istrategylabs com Brian Womack, Facebook Sees Fourfold Jump in Number of Advertiser since 2009 BusinessWeek, 2 June 2010; Grace Ng Fackbook Sets Sights on China, . The Straits Times, 24 December 2010, p, A18, "Asia Growth on Facebook As a Will Be the Largest Facebook Continent" www.socialbakers com, Newley Pumell, Facebook Sees Big Growth in Asia Despre Free Beetles Controvery : http:/ /blogsws.com. 15 March 2016, material from www.facebook.comcreate status updates viewable to everyone In simmsity. Facebook is fulfilling its mission to *give people the power to shore and make the world more open and corrected Marketing Lesson Today, Facebook is the most popular social networking Web site in the world, As of and 2015, if had 540 million Facebook users in Asia, with annual growth of 20 percent. Southeast Asia is its lastest growth region. Facebook's Image-sharing platform, Instagram, is popular In many parts of Asia, as is its WhatsApp.messaging opp. India leads with the highest number of Facebook users in FACEBOOK Asia, followed by Indonesia. the Philippines. Malaysia Taiwan, and Thailand, However, Facebook does not enjoy a huge presence in China, where Pengyou dominates; nor Facebook has brought a whole new level of personal Korea, dominated by Cyworld, nor Japan, where Mix g Buibouow . 61 83/dVND marketing to the world of business. The social networking has the lion's share, web site fulfills people's desire to communicate and Zuckerberg has expressed an interest in entering interact with each other and uses that power to help China, the world's largest Internet market, Global cyber other companies target very specific audiences with players have failed in China, unable to rival local services personalized messages. that are more suited for Chinese netizens. China's main Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, social networking sites are Pengyou, launched by Internet who was a student at Harvard University at the time and giant Tencent Renren, and Kaixin. Facebook will face two N PUD DIDOW created the first version of the Web site in his dorm room barriers when entering China-the local players' monopoly Zuckerberg recalled, "I just thought that being able to have and the government's Internet restrictions. Facebook is a access to different people's profiles would be Interesting late starter, as it launched a Mandarin language version Obviously, there's no way you can get access to that stuff only in 2008 and has been blocked in China since last unless people are throwing up profiles, so I wanted to make year. However, on the plus side, Facebook is popular with an application that would allow people to do that, to share the Chinese software developer community because of as much information as they wanted while having control Its generous terms for producing new applications such over what they put up. " From the beginning, Facebook as online games, It also has a glam factor that Chinese has kept its profiles and navigation tools relatively simple consumers like to be associated with in order to unify the look and feel for each individual There are also regulation issues to contend with, in Within the first 24 hours of the Facebook Web siin being February 2016, Facebook was slapped with a ruling up, between 1,200 and 1,500 Harvard students Rod by India's telecommunications regulator that effectively registered and become part of the Facebook community banned its controversial Free Basics service, which was Within the first month, half the campus had regidared. designed to gel uriconnected users online. This service Initially, Facebook's Web site could only be viewed allows users to browse some sites and apps without paying and used by Harvard students. The early momentum for mobile data. The data access is subsidized in India was tremendous, though, and Facebook soon expanded by telecom operators such as Reliance Communications to include students throughout the Ivy league and other But the Indian regulator considered this a violation of the colleges. The initial decision to keep Facebook exclusive to principles of net neutrality, which call for equal treatment college students was critical to its early success, It gave the of all traffic on the Internet. social Web site a sense of privacy, unity, and exclusivity Facebook has become a critical marketing component, that social media competitors like MySpace did not offer, In Asia, revenue for Facebook has been rising at a rate Eventually, in 2006, Facebook opened up to everyone of 25 percent as brands and businesses learn the value The site allows users to create personal profiles of using the platform, Facebook offers several advantages with information such as their hometown, occupation, to businesses. First, companies, sports teams, musicians educational background, favorite things, and religious and politicians can create Facebook pages-a place affiliation, It encourages them to extend their network by to communicate with their lans. Facebook pages offer adding other users as friends, and many people try to groups and brands a way to personally interact with, build see how many "friends" they can accumulate. To interact awareness in, communicate with, and offer information to with Facebook friends, users can send messages; anyone who takes an interest, Companies use Facebook poke" each other, upload and view albums, photos, to introduce new products, launch videos and promotions, games, and videos, and "tag" or label people in their upload images, communicate with consumers, listen to photos. They can post comments on friends' "walls" and feedback, and create an overall personal look and feel