Advertising Week, a blur of panels, dinners and parties, can be a bit much, but that 's not stopping Facebook from trying to get some work done. On Monday, it's hosting the first meeting of its newly-assembled client council, a chance for its biggest advertisers to tell what they want from Facebook-- in private.
Facebook to Hold First Power-Client Meet-Up
Facebook gave us the invitation-only membership list, which includes Facebook's biggest global clients like Walmart and Unilever, as well as agency giants such as McCann and Vivaki. (See list below) We're still waiting on a formal invite. You'll know if we get in when we start live-blogging the event on Monday.
On a serious note, it's a long way from the CMO's office in Cincinnati, Detroit or New York to Palo Alto, where Facebook engineers build the products and systems they're pitching to advertisers.Coca-Cola's already told Ad Age that it wants metrics from Facebook.
So what does Walmart want from Facebook? Fine-tuned targeting. "Our challenge at Walmart has been the enormous amount of information we have and we'd like to get that content in a targeted way to our customers," said Stephen Quinn, Walmart's chief marketing officer and EVP. "Some people are interested in getting the recipes for the food we sell and some are interested in our fishing equipment."
Walmart has close to 10 million fans on its Facebook page and, as we know, users on Facebook willingly share their interests and purchases, so targeting inside of Facebook is simpler -- and more accepted by consumers -- than it is on the web.Facebook's VP-Global Ad Sales Carolyn Everson -- who is speaking on Monday at the IAB MIXX conference -- said council members will rotate yearly in order to give different companies a chance to participate and influence Facebook's various ad offerings, such as the latest "comments" ad unit, which was created in its first collaboration with an advertising agency.
Who is Facebook's Client Council?
- American Express -- Marie Devlin, SVP, Global Advertising Media and Sponsorships
- Coca-Cola -- Wendy Clark, SVP, Integrated Marketing Communications & Capabilities
- GM -- Joel Ewanick, CMO Global Marketing
- Nestle -- Tom Buday, Head of Marketing and Consumer Communication
- P&G -- Mark Pritchard, Global Marketing Officer
- Unilever -- Keith Weed, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
- Walmart -- Stephen Quinn, EVP & Chief Marketing Officer
- AEMedia North America -- Nigel Morris, CEO
- BBDO Worldwide -- Andrew Robertson, CEO
- Diageo -- Andy Fennel, CMO
- GroupM North America -- Rob Norman, CEO
- Havas and Euro RSCG Worldwide -- David Jones, Global CEO
- McCann Worldgroup -- Nick Brien, Chairman and CEO
- Vivaki -- Jack Klues, CEO