What’s up with WhatsApp?

February 26, 2014

Whether it’s the press, financial traders or marketers, everyone has had an opinion on the recent acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook. Did any of you see the unfortunate (funny) typo, by the BBC which turned the news story into Facebook acquires “massaging service”? Uh oh!

Last week, social networking giant, Facebook, released a statement to announce its decision to buy WhatsApp – a massively successful mobile messaging service which connects people through mobile numbers. But by paying $19 billion (yes BILLION), clearly there was deep-rooted strategy behind the mega purchase – either blow the competition out of the water and monopolise social media by acquiring WhatsApp’s 450 million subscribers; or a more intelligent strategy: expand and develop further within the rising smartphone market. My instinct tells me it’s the latter. With the rise in smartphone usage, accessing social media via mobile devices has become much more prevalent – it’s a market shift Facebook cannot afford to miss, or risk irrelevancy.

In a follow-up press release, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reported that WhatsApp will continue to operate as it currently is, with minimal change or disruption. He added the following statement:

“Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. We do this by building services that help people share any type of content with any group of people they want. WhatsApp will help us do this by continuing to develop a service that people around the world love to use every day.”

With the admission from Facebook itself, WhatsApp’s growth has been strong, with 450 million users each month – a staggering 70% of whom use the app every day! With the combined power of Facebook and WhatsApp, there’s a concern about the increasing access and grip that the social media giant has on our lives. Since Facebook successfully acquired Instagram in 2013 ,and now WhatsApp, it poses the question: is the social networking giant really branching out and diversifying into new areas or is it on its way to monopolising social media?

What’s your say on Facebook’s recent purchase of WhatsApp? Send your comments to @iftweeter or follow me at @baktijethwa

Latest Posts

The hidden AI layer between your brand and your buyers Every marketer I speak to is talking about how they use AI. Very few are talking about the AI they cannot see. While we are all busy playing with tools and prompts, LinkedIn, Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, X, Snapchat and…

Instagram has rolled out another exciting update, and this one is all about making Reels easier, smoother, and far more fun to create. Whether you use Reels for your business, personal brand, or simply to share moments with friends, these new camera improvements are designed to help…

How can CMOs stop Q4 paid social costs from spiralling? CMOs cannot change Q4 seasonality, but they can change how exposed they are to it. Instead of leaving all budget in live auctions when CPMs peak, use Meta’s Reservation buying to pre book key Q4 reach at fixed prices, then keep a smaller auction budget for agile tests and trading. Lock creative and plans earlier in the year, use Q2 and Q3 to find winning hooks and formats, and use AI to build CPM and ROAS scenarios. You turn Q4 from a chaotic bidding war into a planned portfolio with clear risk and upside.