In the United States in the 19th century, Manifest destiny was the widely held belief that American settlers were destined to expand across the continent. As we can see in the allegorical painting above, Columbia, a personification of the United States, leads civilization westward with American settlers, stringing telegraph wire as she sweeps west; she holds a school book.
And, in my opinion, Facebook is called for its own Manifest Destiny: to conquer and dominate the Instant Messaging Market.
Instant Messaging is, by definition, social.
Although all this can be changed through rather expensive Marketing operations, every brand has its own values, they breath this or that idea, and we consumers certainly feel it. Whenever we want to find something we don't quite know, Google instantly comes up to our mind (this might be a reason why Google+ is having so much trouble getting into our lives, and the same with Google Hangouts); so happens with Twitter and quick information and many other examples. Companies and Brands have their identity and values, which may or may not be the same as their CMO want.
Facebook is social, Facebook is friends, Facebook is sharing and the way I take my personal and social life to the digital world. And thats why Facebook has a great opportunity in Messaging: taking advantage of this "natural" advantage, and developing a solid product, they could easily wipe out their competitors.
The 2 steps that need to be taken.
- Unique marketing solution. In a way to present a product that is -at the same time- different but integrated with Facebook, the actual Facebook Messenger App and all its identity is definitely not the way. This App should never merely be a portable solution for the in-web Facebook chat.The guys from Menlo Park should present a new product, with a different name, with a different logo, and even maybe a different color. Something new. That, along with a nicely carried-out advertisement campaign based in their own ad platform, should do it.
- Solid product for the very start. Multiplatform, light-weight, fast and showing a neat design,... Definitely no solutions for later versions, no . Altough worldwide fragmented, the Instant Messaging Market presents in almost each country a predominant app. And that is why, to take over the market, a strong These aspects have to be present from the very beginning to effectively wage war on other competitors.
What would Facebook get out of this?
Presence and brand power. Facebook would now be present in almost every digital social interaction of the user. And with that, Facebook would then ensure itself as THE social network, in every platform, which could be of extreme use int he long term competition. As simple as that.
Profit. Because there's no free lunch, Facebook could make big money out of this. A monetization strategy based on low intrusive ads could be carried out in a medium-term stage of the App.
Sources | TechCrunch: The Reality of the Global Messaging App Market
