Some Advertisers Worry Facebook Could Damage Brand Trust

Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg will testify before congress today and this week about the now infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal. Congress will want to know how long Facebook executives were aware of the data sharing that was going on.  When Dan Patterson from CBS News asked Sheryl Sandberg about how long they knew about the situation,  her response was, “Well they told us they deleted it.”  Well gosh shucks then, whey are they being held responsible. There was clearly home cooking going on here and yesterday Mr. Zukerberg came out with the weak response of “We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake.” Facebook is under an agreement with the FCC that says the social media site could be liable for up to $40,000 per violation and allegedly the data of over 50 Million users was shared.  This could result in a fine of trillions of dollars and that’s a big worry for Wall Street.

The advertiser’s concern is a whole other ball of wax.  Facebook has proven to be a very effective advertising medium.  Their ability to use their data to drill down to a specific audience and provide them with content related to their interest is impressive.  If you are an advertising agency you should use all the tools available to you to optimize your social media campaigns.  The question of if these tools somehow are offensive to your most valuable stakeholder, the customer, needs to be addressed.  By participating as an advertiser on Facebook, will consumers assume the brands on the platform are using data acquired by unscrupulous means to target them? How will the react? Can goodwill or brand trust be lost? Advertisers need to determine if it is worth it to be seen on Facebook.  If it is not, then the whole house of cards can be tumbling down.  

So far the brands that have abandoned facebook are Tesla, Pep Boys, and Sonos to name a few. Sonos spokesperson said, "Big digital platforms offer us incredible opportunities to personalize and contextualize the advertising we deliver to you.But with the power of those capabilities comes a great responsibility that can't be neglected."