Now, the real work begins for Meta, Facebook and its billion-dollar marketing plan, after the social networking giant chose Publicis Groupe’s Spark Foundry as its media agency.

The agencies in the review—Publicis, Dentsu and Havas—wanted to land the Facebook account, which covers Instagram, WhatsApp and VR products like Oculus. But when the process was over, winner Publicis’ Spark Foundry found itself responsible for an entirely new corporate entity. Not only did Facebook just pick a new media agency, but it also underwent its largest rebrand since its founding in 2004, becoming Meta. The next step is moving Facebook’s legacy marketing infrastructure from its last agency, WPP’s Mindshare, to Spark Foundry.

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Ad Age spoke with advertising executives involved in Meta’s seven-month agency review, mostly on condition of anonymity, to understand what comes next for this behemoth of a company and its ambitious marketing plans. Meta is looking to a future in the “metaverse,” the alternative cyber-economy that is bustling with innovation and is seen as the gateway to youthful internet culture.

On Nov. 2, Ad Age was first to report on Publicis winning Meta’s media business, culminating the review that began in April. Now, there are more details about how the agencies competed; why Publicis won; and what it means. One detail about the ad agency review to note is that the participating firms were in the dark about Facebook's plans to evolve into Meta.

Meta worked with growth consultancy ID Comms on the agency review process. ID Comms declined to comment.

Read: Facebook selects Spark Foundry as its media agency

The metaverse

Facebook considered bringing the agencies into the actual metaverse, according to an advertising and media exec who was close to the process. Facebook’s metaverse product line includes Oculus headsets (it renamed the headsets Meta Quest devices, as part of the rebrand). Meta also has software and gaming platforms in virtual reality like Horizon Workrooms, a space where people log in with avatars to join meetings. Facebook execs have used Horizon virtual spaces in business presentation over the past year, but did not use them formally in the review. “There was a question if any of the pitch should be conducted in the metaverse or in VR,” said the advertising and media exec. “And there was discussion about that, but it was decided not to at this point.”

Even if the agencies never donned the Quest headsets, virtual connections were still a big part of the process, since this was a review conducted during COVID-19. The review was finalized without any of the major stakeholders from the agencies or Facebook meeting face to face, people involved in the process said.

On Meta’s end, the executive leading the review was Chief Marketing Officer Alex Schultz, who took over the role last year after working at Facebook since 2007. Facebook Inc., now Meta Platforms Inc., disclosed worldwide ad spending of $2.26 billion in 2020, up 44% from the previous year. Ad spending as a percentage of revenue last year was 2.6%, which was the highest on record for Facebook. The company was the world’s 77th largest advertiser in Ad Age Datacenter’s most recent ranking.

Publicis’ Spark Foundry is expected to manage a budget of close to $1 billion a year, which will go to marketing all manner of Facebook and Meta products. With $1 billion in yearly spending, that amounts to fees that could reach between $30 million and $50 million a year for Spark Foundry, according to people familiar with the economics of the deal.

Dating app test and the Facebook name

The agencies in the pitch had to prove how adept they were at managing ad budgets to buy ads for online, TV and out of home, and they had to demonstrate their ability to oversee real-time programmatic ad campaigns. Ad Age previously reported on these programmatic tests, and more details have emerged, like how Facebook had the agencies place ads for its online dating app.

A dating app is a good example because it shows whether a media buyer can drive results to acquire new users, whether it can target the right audiences, and keep the placements “brand safe.” “It’s good because there is a lot of shadiness that goes into programmatic activity,” said one top ad agency executive in a recent interview, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “When you run a clean and transparent programmatic offering, what clients want to understand is, we can talk all the talk we want around deliverability, around suitability, around safety, but there is nothing like a live-buying exercise to see all of that in action.”

Facebook, now Meta, is seen as a challenging client because of its tarnished recent history, with the social network being blamed for the problems of the internet at large. Facebook executives have been under fire from whistleblowers like ex-employee Frances Haugen. In September, Haugen dumped thousands of pages of documents from the company that portrayed Facebook and its sibling app Instagram as dangerous services that spread disinformation, thrive on engagement through outrage, exacerbate societal divisions across the world, and pose harms to teenagers.

The beleaguered Facebook brand was one reason why the parent company is now named Meta. It wants to position itself as a “metaverse” company, one that can develop the next-generation computing platform; less cynical than web 2.0 social media with a more enlightened outlook for web 3.0.

The “metaverse” is one of the reasons that Publicis and its many sub-agencies, including creative ad shops like Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett and Digitas, are intrigued by forging a relationship with Meta. “In the long term it will help the group,” said one creative agency exec, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know in what ways yet. … We may be in lockstep with Meta and have our clients at the table sooner.”

Read: Publicis' hot streak includes the Meta win

Of course, those types of perks are part of what makes any major deal with Meta a scary one for rival agencies and brands. With this review, there were concerns that Meta could compel Publicis to commit to sending more advertising its way. Facebook generated almost $85 billion in ad revenue in 2020. As major brands that are Publicis clients look to allocate their digital ad budgets, some are already wondering if the advice they get could be affected by Publicis’ new cozy relationship with Meta. Everyone involved in the pitch has dismissed that notion as a non-factor, and not at all part of any deal Facebook has with its new agency.

For the agencies that lost the review, Havas and Dentsu, there are some who say there is a sense of relief from being able to avoid the politics of having Meta as a client. But that seems to be wishful thinking. “Come on, it’s a hundred million dollars globally for the winning agency,” said one top exec involved in the pitch. “Everyone wants to be a part of it.”

And for Publicis' Spark Foundry, there are details still to work out—good problems to have. Meta was very demanding about how its account would be staffed, and there is a talent crunch in the ad industry. The agency will need to have hundreds of workers now dedicated solely to marketing Meta, a new brand with a demanding marketing plan.

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