By Emily Steel and Geoffrey A. Fowler
每个人都希望得到别人的喜爱。对于社交网站Facebook Inc.的广告客户而言,问题就在于他们愿意花多少钱来得到这样的机会。
Everybody wants to be liked. The question for Facebook Inc. is how much advertisers are
willing to pay for the opportunity.
福特汽车公司(Ford Motor Co.)针对2012年款福克斯(Focus)最主要的网络宣传攻势便是在Facebook网站上开通的一个免费页面。其主角是一个橙色玩偶,短短几周时间,它就为这款看似平淡无奇的紧凑型轿车赢得了众多新一代年轻用户的心。
The centerpiece of Ford Motor Co.'s online
campaign for the 2012 Focus was a free Facebook page hosted by an orange-colored
puppet that in a few weeks won over a new, younger
audience for the once-stodgy compact.
福特公司的玩偶代言人"道格"(Doug)引来很多人观看以它为主角、围绕着新款福克斯展开的对话和视频。道格促使超过4.3万名的Facebook用户点击了"喜爱"图标(Like),这个标志意味着你向好友表明对一个品牌或产品非常满意。
Ford spokespuppet 'Doug' drew crowds to online conversations and videos that starred him clowning around the new Focus. Doug inspired more than 43,000 Facebook users to click 'Like,' the icon that broadcasts to friends a thumbs-up
approval of a brand or product.
福特公司花费了大约9,500万美元在各类媒体上为新款福克斯做广告,但在Facebook广告上的开销却非常之少。
While Ford shelled out an estimated $95 million to
advertise the new Focus across a broad range of media, it spent just pennies on the dollar for Facebook ads.
Facebook的市值目前约为700亿美元,如此高市值的基础是投资者认为各大公司会为占领Facebook的广告地盘而一掷千金。今年上半年该公司收入为16亿美元,较去年同期增长8亿美元。Facebook的收入大部分来自于广告业务。
Facebook's estimated market value, now in the
neighborhood of $70 billion, is founded on the
belief that companies will spend big to
advertise on the site. Facebook's revenues, which come largely from ads, were $1.6
billion in the first half of this year, up $800 million from a year earlier.
但市场调查公司comScore Inc表示,Facebook网站上的广告大多来自诸如本地企业和小型网站这样的小商家。在如何大幅推动广告业务增长以及赢得那些为电视、广播和出版物广告投入数十亿美元的大客户的问题上,Facebook承受着压力。
But most of its ads were for small advertisers, such as local businesses and small-scale websites, according to comScore Inc. Facebook is under
pressure to grow its
advertising on a grand scale, and to snag the sort of big brand names who now drive billions of dollars to TV, radio and print campaigns.
福特公司的道格广告表明,Facebook正在打一场硬仗。福特的经历与包括前进保险(Progressive insurance)、英特尔公司(Intel)和Pepto-Bismol在内的其他品牌相似──它们都追随客户来到了社交网站。在数次测试之后,这些公司发现,它们可以通过免费的Facebook网页以极低的成本通过类似口口相传的方式让信息直达目标受众。
Doug's ad
campaign shows Facebook's uphill battle. It mirrors the experience of other brands -- including Progressive insurance, Intel and Pepto-Bismol -- that chased customers to online social networks. After some experimenting, the companies found they could reach a target
audience at a steep
discount through what's akin to word-of-mouth campaigns that spring from free Facebook pages.
comScore公司对Facebook的首次广告流量统计结果显示,福特公司、威瑞森通讯(Verizon Communications Inc)、前进保险和史考特证券(Scottrade Inc.)这些网络广告的大客户今年8月和9月在Facebook网站上刊登的数字广告不足其总数的15%。
Such big online ad buyers as Ford, Verizon Communications Inc., Progressive Corp. and Scottrade Inc., ran less than 15% of their digital ads on Facebook in August and September, according to the first-ever tally of Facebook
advertising by comScore Inc.
comScore的数据显示,9月份,美国人在Facebook上停留的时间占他们总上网时间的15%。但是市场研究公司eMarketer Inc预计,今年Facebook仅有望获得网络广告业务开支总额的6.4%。
U.S. consumers spent 15% of their online time at Facebook in September, according to comScore. But Facebook is expected to
capture just 6.4% of total online ad spending this year, according to estimates by
research firm eMarketer Inc.
Facebook广告业务和全球运营副总裁大卫·费雪(David Fischer)表示,公司看到"全球大品牌开始在Facebook上投放大量广告,它们的增长和业绩都十分突出。"
David Fischer, vice president of
advertising and global operations for Facebook, said the company was witnessing 'very strong adoption, growth and business results among the largest brands in the world.'
福特正是其中之一。但是当道格诞生的时候,付费广告仅仅是福特公司广告计划中的一小部分。今年1月在公司总部召开的会议上,福特要求其广告代理公司──WPP集团旗下的Team Detroit──发起一轮内容幽默的宣传攻势。当时有人从桌子底下拿出来一只橙色玩偶,说道,"大家和新福特福克斯玩偶代言人见个面吧。"
Ford is among those brands. But paid
advertising was just a small part of the car company's plan when Doug was born. Meeting at its
headquarters in January, Ford asked its ad agency, WPP PLC's Team Detroit, to create a humor-driven promotion. Someone pulled an orange
puppet from under the table and said, 'Meet the new Ford Focus spokespuppet.'
福特公司数字营销部主管斯科特·凯利(Scott Kelly)回忆自己当时的反应是,"你开什么玩笑?我要么会因此升职,要么就会被开除。"
Scott Kelly, Ford's head of digital marketing, recalled his reaction: ''Are you kidding? I either am going to get a
promotion or get fired.''
这家广告代理公司的观点是:福特需要一种能够传递给朋友的东西来吸引Facebook用户的关注。
The agency's pitch: Ford needed to get the attention of Facebook users with something they'd pass on to friends.
尽管有所保留──举例来说,福特公司人力资源部担心道格偶尔让人感觉庸俗的对话会冒犯消费者,但最后认为道格既不是人,也不是公司员工──福特还是给道格开了绿灯。
Despite some reservations -- the human-resources department, for one, feared it would
offend customers with
occasional off-color dialogue but
decided the
puppet was neither human nor an employee -- Ford gave Doug the green light.
今年2月,在推出道格之前,福特公司邀请来自Facebook、雅虎(Yahoo)、微软(Microsoft)、《汽车杂志》(Automobile Magazine)以及其他媒体公司的广告营销团队,就如何推介道格征询意见。
In February, before the
campaign went live, Ford invited ad-sales teams from Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft, Automobile Magazine and other media companies to suggest ideas to help
promote Doug.
Facebook在此前几周刚刚推出了一项服务,广告客户可以付费重新发布用户在Facebook上发出过的有关其品牌的帖子。Facebook向福特公司表示,这些所谓的赞助内容将保证让更多的人看到有关道格和福克斯的有利信息。福特公司拒绝了这个提议。
Weeks earlier, Facebook had unveiled a service letting advertisers pay to re-publish Facebook messages that users had posted about their brands. Facebook told Ford these
so-called sponsored stories would
guarantee more people saw
favorable posts about Doug and the Focus. Ford declined.
今年3月,福特公司开通了道格的Facebook主页,却并没有在该网站上投放任何广告。道格在它的第一条帖子中写道,"你好,各位社交达人,我来这里和大家分享照片和视频,和大家聊聊天,告诉你们任何你们想知道的关于全新福克斯的消息。"
In March, Ford switched on Doug's Facebook page without any Facebook ads. 'Hello, fellow socialites. I'm here to share photos, videos, chat with you, tell you everything you want to know about the all-new Focus,' Doug wrote in his first post.
福特公司的高管们看到道格吸引来了追随者,这些追随者开始分享道格那些幽默搞笑的视频。大约三个星期之后,福特公司在雅虎电子邮箱的登录页面买下了广告位,还出资请微软和《汽车杂志》赞助有关道格的视频和文章。这些广告都指向了道格的Facebook页面。
Executives watched Doug attract followers, who started sharing Doug's wise-cracking videos. About three weeks later, Ford bought ads on Yahoo's email log-in page. It paid Microsoft and Automobile Magazine to
sponsor videos and articles about Doug. The ads
pointed to Doug's Facebook page.
福特公司还开始在Facebook网站上投放广告,向用户们介绍道格并促使他们按下"喜爱"图标。当道格的粉丝数量突破1万时,福特公司在Facebook上就不再投放广告了。凯利表示,公司继续在其他网站上刊登广告,但在道格走红以后就没有理由继续在Facebook上花这笔钱了。
Ford also started buying Facebook ads introducing Doug and urging users to 'Like' him. When Doug hit 10,000 fans, Ford stopped buying. The company kept buying ads on other sites, Mr. Kelly said, but there was no reason to continue paying Facebook after Doug went viral.
WPP旗下广告信息研究公司Kantar Media的数据显示,今年上半年,福特公司为了宣传新福克斯在电视、出版物及其他媒体上的广告支出超过了9,500万美元。福特公司拒绝对Kantar的数据置评,但表示他们花在Facebook上的广告费用不足其网络广告预算总额的5%,而且成功地将道格打造成了众人喜爱的形象。
Ford spent more than $95 million buying ads promoting the Focus in the first half of the year on TV, print and other media, according to WPP's ad tracking firm, Kantar Media. The auto maker declined to
comment on Kantar's spending figure, but said it spent less than 5% of its total online ad
budget for the
campaign on Facebook to make Doug a well-liked attraction.
福特公司的这笔广告费物有所值。在道格的Facebook粉丝中,有61%的人表示他们如今比先前更有可能考虑购买一辆福克斯,凯利补充说道,"我们不可能仅仅通过在'超级碗'(Super Bowl)上打出一则广告就让人们爱上福克斯。"他说,福克斯今年的销量较去年有所增长,而且经销商的库存还很紧张。
They got some good bang for the buck. Of Doug's Facebook fans, 61% said they were more likely to consider buying a Focus, Mr. Kelly said, adding, 'We weren't going to be able to break through the crowd just by doing a Super Bowl ad.' Sales of the Focus were up this year compared with last, he said, and dealers were having a hard time keeping them in stock.
各大公司正在将营销活动转移至Facebook,因为那里有它们的目标消费者。comScore的数据显示,美国互联网用户9月份在Facebook上平均花费6.8小时,比任何其他的网站都要多得多。
Companies are shifting marketing efforts to Facebook because that is where consumers are. In September, U.S. Web users spent an average 6.8 hours on Facebook, far more than on any other site, comScore said.
Facebook表示,去年《广告时代》(Ad Age)评选的美国百大广告主中有96个在该网站投放了广告。Burson-Marsteller公关公司表示,在全球最大的100家公司中,有61%的公司在这家有七年历史的网站上投放过广告,比去年54%的比例有所增长。
Facebook says 96 of the top 100 U.S. advertisers, as ranked by Ad Age, bought ads on its site in the past year. Of the world's 100 largest companies, 61% have a presence on the seven-year-old company, up from 54% last year, according to Burson-Marsteller.
但很多大客户表示,与其他网站相比,它们在Facebook网站上的广告开支很少,只占到其广告预算中很小的一部分。市场研究公司eMarketer的分析师黛布拉·阿霍·威廉姆森(Debra Aho Williamson)表示,Facebook在2011年上半年的全球收入"不及我预期的那般强劲"。
But many of the largest advertisers say their spending is small compared with other sites and make up a small
fraction of their total ad budgets. Facebook's global revenues in the first half of 2011 were 'not as
robust as I would have expected,' said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson.
eMarketer公司预测,今年Facebook在美国的每用户广告收入将不足谷歌公司(Google Inc.)的五分之一。comScore公司的数据显示,Emarketer公司预计Facebook从其1.62亿美国用户身上赚取的广告收入将达到20亿美元;而谷歌则将有望从其1.846亿美国用户身上取得128亿美元的收入。
Facebook will take in less than one-fifth the ad revenues per U.S. user that Google Inc. will this year, eMarketer predicts. EMarketer expects Facebook's ad revenues to reach $2
billion in the U.S., from 162 million
unique U.S. users, according to comScore; Google is expected to earn $12.8
billion in U.S. ad revenues from 184.6 million
unique U.S. users, according to comScore.
麦格理证券公司(Macquarie Securities)的互联网分析师本·萨切特(Ben Schachter)表示,"显然,大家都认为他们可以比现在做更多的事情。"
'Clearly people think they can do a lot more than what they are doing today,' said Ben Schachter, an Internet analyst with Macquarie Securities.
Facebook称,在其网站上投放广告可以扩大品牌知名度,并且可以和用户建立一种更私人化的关系。Facebook的一贯战略是通过提供免费服务──粉丝页面和"喜爱"图标──吸引目标客户,然后靠卖广告推动用户浏览商家发布的信息。费雪表示,最成功的Facebook战略是采用免费内容和付费广告相结合的模式。
Facebook's pitch to companies is that
advertising on the site builds brand awareness, along with a more personal
relationship with customers. The company's
strategy has been to lure marketers with free offerings -- fan pages and the 'Like'
button -- then sell ads to help drive viewers to the material they post. Mr. Fischer said the most successful Facebook campaigns
combine free content with paid ads.
这是否足以支撑Facebook当前如此高的估值仍有待观察。市场研究机构Forrester Research Inc的分析师肖恩·柯科伦(Sean Corcoran)表示,"毫无疑问,现在的投资者都患上了一点新奇事物综合症。Facebook潜力的确是巨大的。但是这需要营销部门的大量投入才能获得预期量的广告。"
Whether that will be enough to support Facebook's lofty valuations remains to be seen. 'There's most
definitely a little bit of the shiny object syndrome
happening now with investors,' said Sean Corcoran, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc. 'The
potential is really huge. But it is going to take a great deal of
investment by the marketing
community to get the
advertising to that point.'
广告业巨头WPP首席执行长马丁·索里尔(Martin Sorrell)对于Facebook能否将传统广告模式融入为其吸引来大量用户的私人信息交流空间持怀疑态度。他表示,Facebook在建立品牌知名度方面有效果,但是采用传统广告模式的商家"是在侵入一个社交空间,因此必须非常小心。"
Martin Sorrell, CEO of the giant ad
holding company WPP, is among those skeptical about Facebook's
ability to
incorporateconventionaladvertising into the personal conversations that draw the network's
massive audience. He said Facebook works for brand building, but companies that use
traditionaladvertising 'are invading a social space. You have to be
extremely careful.'
社交网络与谷歌搜索引擎不同:谷歌销售的广告与客户的搜索内容有关──多数情况下是在用户搜索商品的时候。谷歌的广告客户能够比较每笔广告费所带来的销售额,Facebook已经在最近几个月与尼尔森(Nielsen)合作尝试新的举措。
Social networks are different from Google's search engine, which sells ads linked to
customer queries -- many times when people are looking to buy. While Google advertisers can compare sales per
advertising dollar, Facebook has teamed up in recent months with the media company Nielsen to experiment with new measures.
广告业高管表示,为网络广告内容投资往往比购买广告位更重要。福特公司拒绝透露具体的数字,但表示制作道格的49个网络视频的开支相当于3部时长30秒的电视广告。
Ad executives say spending money on online content often is more important than buying ads. Ford declined to give exact figures but said 49 online videos of Doug cost about the same to produce as three 30-second TV commercials.
福特公司请来电视喜剧《办公室》(The Office)的导演保罗·菲戈(Paul Feig)和电视剧《辛普森一家》(The Simpsons)的一位编剧负责制作道格的视频。福特广告代理公司的两名员工则不分昼夜地以道格的名义回复Facebook上的留言。比如说,今年4月,一位名叫劳瑞(Laurie)的Facebook用户问道,"道格是单身吗?"两分钟以后,道格回复说,"天空是蓝色的吗,劳瑞?"
Ford recruited Paul Feig, a
director of the TV
comedy 'The Office,' along with a
writer from 'The Simpsons' TV show, to produce Doug's videos. Two people at Ford's ad
agency responded day and night to Facebook posts in the persona of Doug. In April, for example, a Facebook user named Laurie asked, 'Is Doug single?