Facebook Inc owns Instagram and WhatsApp, and it wants everybody to know it.
The social media giant has created new corporate branding and a new logo for Facebook the corporation to distinguish it from the company’s popular social network with the same name.
The new logo — which is the word Facebook spelled out versus the white or blue “f” Facebook has used for years — is to appear on the login screen and the settings page of Instagram and WhatsApp.
Facebook began the effort earlier this year when it added “Instagram from Facebook” and “WhatsApp from Facebook” to both apps, but the new branding makes the message even more pronounced.
The point is to ensure that people who use those products know they are owned by Facebook, chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio said.
“All the research that we’ve had from ‘Generation Z’ and ‘millennials’ was all very emphatic as to they need to know where their brands come from,” Lucio said in an interview. “We needed to be more transparent with our users in showcasing that everything is coming from the same company.”
Lucio said most people do not know that Instagram and WhatsApp are Facebook-owned — he cited a Pew research study that found only 29 percent of Americans knew Facebook owned both apps.
When people find out, Lucio said it improves that person’s perception of Facebook as a company.
“When they know, the overall appreciation for the Facebook family actually grows,” he said.
Facebook could certainly use a boost after years of battling misinformation campaigns and mishandling private user data.
It is also a favorite punch bag for US politicians and is under investigation for potentially stifling competition.
That tarnished reputation also means that while aligning WhatsApp and Instagram with Facebook might improve the company’s overall image, it could have an adverse effect on some of the brands.
Lucio said associating Facebook with Instagram makes “no difference” on how a user feels about Instagram. That same association, though, negatively impacts users’ perception of WhatsApp, primarily because the messaging app pitches itself as a safe, private place for communication.
Facebook’s track record on privacy is not very good.
“There is a little, let’s call it brand tax, on the messaging apps like WhatsApp,” Lucio said. “It’s a more private setting.”
Lucio said the rebranding could take five to 10 years to catch on, and that Facebook can handle a brand hit on WhatsApp because it is committed “long term.”
Facebook has discussed changing its name, along with other ways to distinguish the parent company from its core social network, he said. Ultimately, it decided to keep the name.
The company did not want it to look like it was trying to run from the problems associated with its brand name, he said.
“It would have been perceived as disingenuous by the rest of the world,” Lucio said. “We want to step up and deal with what we have to deal [with].”
Facebook’s branding efforts could continue into other parts of Instagram and WhatsApp, or into other Facebook products such as Oculus and Workplace, Lucio said.
“You’re going to see it more subtle in wherever it makes sense within the consumer experience,” he said.
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