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Facebook F8 and
What It Means For Brands
April 2015
Written by:
Michael Mangi Peter Fasano
Senior Vice President of Managing Director
Interactive Technology North America
Social@Ogilvy Social@Ogilvy

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Facebook F8 and What It Means For Brands
At 2014’s F8 conference, we saw the emergence of the new Facebook ethos. In
response to data concerns and the negative backlash from developers over "move fast
and break things" as a platform to build upon, the new Facebook Ecosystem arrived.
Built on a three-pillared promise of build, grow, and monetize, the new Facebook
Ecosystem promised to be a more stable, data-safe environment aimed at stimulating
building on top of the platform. More like “move slow and do things right”.
In addition to a new mentality, 2014 brought new challenges – organic reach
disappeared, and concerns over the validity and reach of Facebook as the content
distribution platform of the future arose.
Which brings us to the 2015 version of F8. Facebook not only unveiled a host of
compelling new reasons to continue building, but showcased the platform’s evolution
into a richer ecosystem capable of engaging users all the way down the purchase
funnel.
No longer just about getting people to the Newsfeed, Facebook has evolved “into a
family of apps and services” aimed at helping people connect and share with each other,
no matter where they are.
This paper touches on the main themes and new features coming to Facebook coming
out of F8, and the implications for brands moving forward.
Facebook-Beyond-Facebook
Facebook video, off Facebook
Starting this year, Facebook is
going to expand further beyond
Facebook itself than ever
before. Content and ads that
previously lived solely on the
Facebook platform will be able
to be spread out throughout a
larger, growing ecosystem. For
example, at F8, Facebook
revealed a new video player
that will be embeddable on
other websites. Much like YouTube, video will now be able to be hosted on Facebook
but posted and viewable virtually anywhere. The key feature here is that people will be

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able to like and share these videos directly in the player, even if they're viewing it on
Buzzfeed or The New York Times.
What does this mean for brands?
This presents an opportunity to extend reach, allowing users to engage with a brand's
Facebook content while not actually on Facebook. Additionally, this will give brand
content a much longer shelf life, as brands won't have to be at the mercy of constantly
updating their Facebook Newsfeed to stay relevant. Brands should prepare for this new
feature by looking for additional video advertising opportunities—if brands are now able
to display Facebook video outside of Facebook, they can also leverage rich Facebook
targeting data elsewhere, too.
Mirrored commenting
Another reveal at F8 that falls in line with the
Facebook-Beyond-Facebook theme is the
debut of mirrored commenting. Facebook
revealed that their comments plugin will get a
new look and include a key new feature. If
Facebook-hosted video is expanding across
the digital ecosystem, it's natural for
commenting to follow suit. Soon, the
Facebook comments plugin will combine
conversations that are happening on
Facebook with those happening off it. For
example, with Mirrored Commenting implemented on The Huffington Post, that
comment on the .com site will also appear in the Newsfeed of that user and in the
Facebook Page Post of The Huffington Post automatically.
What does this mean for brands?
This consolidation of the conversation will benefit both publishers and users, as it will
likely result in higher-quality conversations that are streamlined across destinations. The
updated comments plugin will also include improved brand safety features such as a
new moderation tool and improved spam filtering. There are "smaller" rollouts than
mirrored commenting, but are very important additions from a brand perspective in their
own right.
Share Sheet!!
Mark Zuckerberg announced that people shared 50 billion pieces of content from apps
to Facebook in 2014. The issue, though, was inconsistency. Without being able to

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preview exactly how content would appear
once shared on Facebook, developers had
trouble providing a consistent experience for
users who were looking to share to Facebook
from different apps. Facebook's new Share
Sheet should improve the quality and
consistency of shares from apps. Now, users
will easily be able to share from a native app
to Facebook, and will seamlessly be able to
share to their Newsfeed, to a Group, or in
Messenger.
What does this mean for brands?
Easier shareability means greater shareability, which is a clear positive for brands.
There are 700 million people using Groups and 600 million Messenger users. These are
engaged communities that are ready to consume more shared content from branded
apps. This should lead to increased discoverability, and will help brands to enhance app
install campaigns. A consistent, seamless sharing experience will likely drive higher
consumer engagement.
Expanding ad ecosystem!!
It's not just the Facebook content and
engagement ecosystem that's expanding,
but the ad ecosystem. After acquiring
LiveRail last year, Facebook made a
definitive statement of leadership in the
video advertising space. At F8, they
further cemented that perception by
announcing that their offering will include
support for display ads within mobile apps.
What does this mean for brands?
The LiveRail and added mobile app display ad capability will have a number of impacts
on brands. Firstly, LiveRail's improved ad exchange includes Facebook-anonymized
user data baked into its targeting capabilities. This will allow advertisers to create much
more efficiently-targeted ad campaigns. Advertisers must now consider a number of ad
exchanges when planning media. Facebook has an edge, given the massive user data
brands can leverage to target content to the right people. Google, which relies on
tracking cookies for its ad exchange, has certainly been put on notice. This update is a
fundamental shift.

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Facebook takes on Mobile Messaging
Messenger Redesign!!
Facebook Messenger has been constantly evolving as a
platform, but it's biggest upgrade was announced at F8.
Previously, Messenger was simply an intimate
communications channel, intended for small groups of
people to chat. There was no place for branded content in
Messenger, until now. Facebook unveiled a new
Messenger redesign, which allows developers to build
applications that enhance messaging within the app. This
allows users to install apps directly from Messenger,
allowing brands access to this intimate, previously
forbidden space.
What does this mean for brands?
With privileged access comes heightened responsibility and risk. Brands must be
cautious in leveraging Facebook Messenger; they should be wary of exhausting users,
who have a plethora of other mobile instant messaging apps they can migrate to.
Branded Messenger Apps that will succeed should contribute context to the message
but not be a distraction.
Business on Messenger!!
A major addition to Messenger, revealed at F8, is
Business on Messenger. Business will be able to engage
with customers in very personal and real-time
conversations. This evolved eCommerce and customer
care approach to communication is an evolution from the
asynchronous phone, email or chat experiences that
support these functions today.
What does this mean for brands?
This presents the opportunity for a very true 1-to-1
engagement with consumers. The technology is there;
Facebook Messenger has launched with digital customer
service tool ZenDesk, and there's added live-chat
functionality which is a CRM and community
management game-changer. With Facebook's robust
user data, businesses have a unique opportunity to

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match user data to specific transactions, which allows for better-tailored engagement in
the future. Business on Messenger is essentially a brand new, engaging service hub for
all types of businesses.
More Reasons to Build
Parse!!
The Internet of Things (IoT) is coming. We're not yet in a fully-
connected world where all of our devices are communicating
with each other, but the seeds are being planted. Eventually, the
lights in our house will turn on automatically as our phone opens
our locks...and the house will be at the right temperature as the
heat clicked on once we were a certain distance from reaching
home. The water might even be at at a perfect boil just as we
make our way down to the kitchen. Connected devices also have
a much more noble potential impact; imagine better insulin
trackers that help people living with diabetes.
There's no way that Facebook wouldn't have been a huge part of
this shift, and Parse is the proof that they've punched their ticket to the IoT dance. Parse
interacts with IoT devices on many platforms, like Android, Apple iOS, and Windows
Phone.
What does this mean for brands?
It's becoming easier, and more sensible, for brands to find support for taking their
analog products into the digital world. Parse represents the technology shift in the all-
digital direction, while other products are starting to digitize which presents the
opportunity for brands to engage with consumers in new ways. Imagine reading
something on your Facebook news feed on the screen of your fridge while you reach for
a pint of ice cream?
Analytics for Apps!!
Keeping track of engagement, usage behaviors and overall
performance on social and digital media has always been a
challenge. It's difficult to know truly how effective a
campaign is if people are accessing Facebook, both the
app and the website, from multiple devices. Facebook is
trying to help fix this through their new analytics tool,
Analytics for Apps. It's cross-platform and Facebook-
powered and will help track growth, engagement, usage

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behaviors and overall performance in apps. It will also include functionality for tracking
performance of in-app ads.
What does this mean for brands?
Firstly, it gives an enhanced ability for brands to see how mobile apps impact business
more directly; how are users moving through the brand experience or purchase funnel
across devices? What's the percentage of people downloaded your mobile app that
ended up purchasing something on your website? What are the affinities of your
installed user audience? Analytics for Apps will also give brands a better idea of the
steps people are taking within their app—where are they falling off, and where should
we optimize against? This will provide much smarter app marketing, letting brands more
accurately measure the lifetime value of an app by ad network or campaign.
New Experiences to Come
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are on the horizon. By 2020, they will both be
multi-billion dollar industries. Much like the IoT, there's a bit of an arms race amongst
big tech and software companies to see who is going to be the first to successfully get
AR and VR out to market and at scale. Google recently announced that YouTube will
have 360-degree video capability, and at F8, Facebook announced that it too would be
able to support it.
Oculus Rift is the name to keep an eye on when it comes to AR/VR. At F8, they
presented a session wowing users on how virtual reality can essentially "hack"
someone's brain and trick them, making the unreal seem like reality. Brand integration
has already begun with Volvo and Marriott, while the entertainment world has leveraged
Oculus Rift for premieres like the film Insurgent and the television show Saturday Night
Live.
What does this mean for brands?
AR/VR gives brands a clear opportunity to take video advertising to the next level.
AR/VR will grow with gamers first, followed by entertainment and then home
entertainment. But these developments are less of a trend, and more of an evolution of
aligning the sensory experience of head motion with the audio and visual experience we
see in HD televisions, IMAX film, or gaming. Could providing a rich, truly immersive
video experience render all other video advertising obsolete? What better way to sell a
product, service, or idea than for consumers to virtually experience it themselves? 360
degree video isn't quite that, but it’s a good first step.

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Conclusion
The Facebook ethos continues to evolve. Two years ago, Facebook was in a place
where it was trying a lot of new things, quickly. Its reach was declining and its value was
being questioned, and internet privacy became a hot button issue, causing many folks
to jump ship to more intimate comunication channels. Facebook's response was
enhanced privacy controls and better ad targeting, which restored some of the damaged
user value. This also came with the emergence of Facebook as a powerful paid
distribution platform, and the death of organic reach.
The many unveils and announcements at F8 2015 collectively signal more
improvements to Facebook as a brand platform. The year 2015 may be the year of
"Facebook Everywhere", as the Facebook ecosystem will expand beyond Facebook
itself. Improvements in commenting and messaging will have people engaging with
Facebook content everywhere, leading to more opportunities for brands to engage with
users throughout the entirety of the customer journey. i
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Photo credits: https://developers.facebook.com/