Last month, Facebook launched a massive campaign to restore public confidence in the wake of its privacy crisis. Called “Here Together,” the campaign stretches across TV networks and cinemas throughout the 50 largest markets in the U.S. In an age of shorter attention spans and commercials, Facebook is betting its reputation on 60-second spots. Ads on its own platform play a small supporting role.
As striking as it is for one medium to depend on the competition to sell its story, this is not an isolated incident. For all the energy Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (FAANG) put into telling the ad community they will replace TV, they place big bets on TV when their growth is on the line.
Minutes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finished testifying before Congress about the platform’s data security, Facebook went big and bold on TV. Likewise, when YouTube needs to attract subscribers for its new TV service, it turns to TV. Same when Netflix needs viewers for a new show, Amazon rolls out Alexa or Echo and Apple introduces a new phone. It’s always TV—and lots of it.
For all the energy Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (FAANG) put into telling the ad community they will replace TV, they place big bets on TV when their growth is on the line.
In fact, FAANG has been surging onto the TV ad platform at the extraordinary rate of $138 million a month since the beginning of 2017; collectively $1.9 billion from January 2017 through February 2018. Conservative projections place FAANG’s 2018 TV ad spend at $1.8 billion. Since those levels are equivalent to P&G and General Motors, FAANG is effectively a top-three advertiser on TV.
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