There's only so much a rebrand can do. Meta
Platforms is learning that lesson the hard way as investors
have soured on shares of the Facebook corporate parent. Meta
stock, which will transition from the "FB" ticker to "META"
during the first half of this year, has fallen about 40% in 2022, alone.
A multibillion-dollar revenue hit from Apple's
2021 iOS changes, which forced apps like Facebook and Instagram to obtain
consent from users before tracking the success of advertisements on iPhones,
was a major investor concern following the company's fourth-quarter
earnings report that sent the stock tanking. But it wasn't just the
tracking changes; Meta Platforms has
a TikTok problem.
The Chinese-owned short-form video app is hugely popular among young
adults— a demographic that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says catering to
is now the company's "north star."
Its answer to TikTok -- Reels -- is expanding
from its roots as an Instagram feature. The company said Tuesday that Facebook
Reels was rolling out in 150 countries. I wrote about it here:
Attracting people who now post popular videos
on TikTok to Reels would help make it a success. Meta’s announcement on Tuesday
noted that eligible content creators can earn bonuses of up to $35,000 a month
based on how many people watch their content.
Facebook Reels will also allow creators in the
U.S., Canada, and Mexico to overlay advertisements on their videos. The options
include semitransparent banners at the bottom of the reel and stickers that sit
anywhere the user wants on the screen. The company intends to expand tests of
those features to other countries.
TikTok, and the rise of short-form video, was
a common theme on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call. The app
was mentioned directly six times—including once by an analyst and five
times by executives—during Meta’s earnings call, according to a transcript
provided by Sentieo.
The jury is still out on whether all that talk adds up to a true TikTok killer.
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