Kenya’s Safaricom is the most valuable non-SA brand, study finds
South African brands again dominate the latest Brand Finance Africa-wide study, but several Kenyan brands put in a strong showing.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Is ubiquitous Facebook planning a name change and a rebrand?
By our News Team | 2021
International media reports say the world’s dominant social media brand wants to be known for a wider tech contribution to society.
Facebook is planning to change its company name within the next week to reflect its focus on building the metaverse, according to international media reports.
There is speculation that the coming name change could be announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s annual Connect conference on 28 October, although it may be sooner given that the seemingly credible story has been leaked and is now being widely publicised.
The story was broken on Wednesday (20 October) by The Verge, a US-based technology news website and blog. According to The Verge, the change is meant to signal the tech giant’s ambition to be known for more than social media and all the ills that entails.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
“A rebrand would likely position the blue Facebook app as one of many products under a parent company overseeing groups like Instagram, WhatsApp Oculus, and more,” the website reported.
Planned transition to a metaverse company
In a July media interview, Zuckerberg said that, over the next several years, “we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company”.
The Verge notes: “A rebrand could also serve to further separate the futuristic work Zuckerberg is focused on from the intense scrutiny Facebook is currently under for the way its social platform operates today.”
Like most of us, you may be wondering what the metaverse is? The AMC’s daily marketing news service reported in September that the metaverse is a network of always-on virtual environments in which many people can interact with one another and digital objects while operating virtual representations – or avatars – of themselves. It is especially common in gaming – and now virtual concerts.
“The defining quality of the metaverse will be presence – the feeling of really being there with people… so you can remove the limitations of physics and move between them with the same ease as moving from one room in your home to the next,” we reported Facebook Reality Labs’ Andrew Bosworth as saying.
Almost every person questioned in survey objects to reselling of data
Hypothetically, consumers would even go as far as to pay to prevent their personal information being resold to third parties.
MAZ marks the second phase of its 2023 Superbrand research process
The unveiling of the Top 200 brands by the Marketers Association of Zimbabwe culminates in the Superbrand Awards at year-end.
Proud and Passionate. Meet the consumers of North Africa
While culture and history still permeate the North African consumer experience, it is also a region undergoing a dramatic evolution.
Massmart using Walmart-inspired tech to improve the online experience
Company says order-fulfilment software from the US digitises and optimises the picking, packing, staging and distribution of online orders.
How supermarket price promotions can impact demand for other items
Placing goods that are not on promotion next to ones that are being discounted can have both positive and negative effects.
Tanzanian satellite-based money transfer system may be ‘game changer’
AzamPesa mobile money wallet set to close the gap between urban and rural areas in terms of access to financial products and solutions?
Insurer launches fun campaign to stop the scourge of ‘hold music’
Survey finds people spend a month of their lives waiting for call centre agents to pick up. So insurer unveils ‘#StopHoldMusic’ campaign.
The ‘magic sauce’ that will define the top brands of tomorrow
Top brands of the future will not be focused on the products they sell, but rather on serving an ecosystem of stakeholder needs.
YouTube ad revenue set to power ahead in 2023 after 2022 slowdown
Growth is expected to resume in 2023 at more than double the rate of last year, with the retail sector being the biggest spender.
Targeting young tech-heads? Perhaps NFTs are the way to go?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are usually associated with celebrities and market volatility. But there is untapped potential for marketers.