On the first day of my Marketing class, we talked about the popularity of the 2010 Winter Olympics Red Mittens. The red mittens were not advertised on TV, radio, or on the internet, but they were still very popular and outdid sales expectations. The discussion made me realize that Marketing is not only about advertising; my view about Marketing changed from then on.
This concept led me thinking about Facebook. Facebook is the most popular social networking site with over 500 million users world wide. Facebook has grown exponentially and its growth rate never ceases to amaze me. How did Facebook get so popular and have so many members?
The most interesting thing about the growth of Facebook is that there was no advertising campaign on TV, radio, or billboards promoting Facebook. How did facebook get as much members as it did?
I think the 4P’s can help provide a good understanding of Facebook’s success.
- Product: The product provides great value to its members. It provides a great avenue for people to reach out to old friends and colleagues, share experiences and photos, and meeting like-minded people through Facebook groups.
- Price: The service is free. The benefits of the product outweighs the cost.
- Promotion: Most people will tell you they heard about Facebook and joined because of their friends and family; I started using facebook because my friends made me join. Facebook was promoted through word of mouth; it didn’t need expensive advertising campaigns because they had members who acted as advocates and promoted the product for free.
- Place: Facebook can be accessed anywhere in the world (except in countries where it is banned) as long as there’s an internet connection.
They say the oldest form of advertising is word of mouth; Facebook is an epitome of this form of marketing.