This was originally posted 5 years ago. Opinions, facts and reality may have changed.
So Facebook is now Meta. Except it’s not really is it. The holding company which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus (don’t worry, not many people have heard of it), is now known as Meta, where previously it was called Facebook Inc.
And the world keeps spinning and nothing really changes.
But based on the content of a lot of press stories, Tweets and – yes – Facebook posts, you’d think that the name Facebook was disappearing; so that we’d all be going on Meta, posting on Meta and sharing cat memes on Meta.
We’re not and we won’t be.
Don’t believe me? Look it up on Alphabet. You know, the world’s largest search engine.
Alphabet is the holding company for Google, Waymo, Fitbit, Nest etc. And chances are you never even knew. Because there’s no reason for you to. When the change happened six years ago this month, there were stories in the press of course but average punters like you and I didn’t notice a change because there wasn’t any reason for us to.
In the middle of possibly its worst PR disaster since it was founded in 2004, Facebook Inc has decided the time is ripe for a name change.
If it wasn’t so cynical, I’d be impressed.
A brand is one of the single most important things many companies have. It’s a statement of values. It creates a bond of trust. It’s a promise to customers. Does that change when you change the company name?
In the case of Meta, the name is supposed to signify the company’s new focus on the metaverse: a vague concept where the differing components of the Internet, augmented and virtual reality, virtual worlds etc all coalesce to form a new “universe” for us to interact with and within.
But this is the corporate entity, not the everyday brands we as punters and marketers deal with; those will remain Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc.
So, in short, very little has changed for you and I whatever the new lick of paint may suggest.
And whilst we’re all focusing on the new shiny thing, Facebook’s reputation is being ripped to tatters in a series of hearings.
Again, if I wasn’t so cynical, I’d be impressed.
The lesson of all this? Sometimes a new shiny thing can be enough to distract the naysayers. But the chances are you can only get away with it if you’re the size of Facebook.