The Facts Behind the Sale

On the cusp of Facebook’s initial public offering (IPO), we take a look at just what’s on offer, and what that might mean for the social media giant’s more than one billion users.

Listed as a public company, Facebook is hoping to raise $5 billion from the sale of around 421 million shares, an ambitious goal which if achieved, would land them on the shortlist of largest IPOs of all time.

Next to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s 28.4% majority share, the sale would see nearly 18% of the company become public, valuing it at around $100 billion and placing fourth on the list of the world’s biggest companies behind Apple, Google and McDonald’s.

Analysts have been quick to warn against investing, citing the notoriously volatile performance of .COMs on the share market, but there has been significant public interest in the shares which are set to debut on the market later this week.

A cause for concern for some is the last minute release of a further 84 million shares by early backers last week including PayPal founder Peter Thiel who increased his initial release from 7.7 million to 16.8 million.

Not everyone is selling though, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom will be watching the IPO closely following the sale of his App to Facebook earlier in the year for $1 billion, much of which it was later revealed came in the form of Facebook stock.

What It Means for Users

For Facebook’s 845 million active users who generate an average 2.7 billion daily likes and comments, the move to public company might see some unwelcome changes in daily functionality.

By law, when a company goes public they are obligated to continue creating increased value for their stakeholders, and while Facebook’s value has grown exponentially year to year, it has yet to keep up with the demands of a large public stakeholder base.

So far advertising has proven their single greatest source of revenue, bringing in $3.7 billion last year alone, but while user numbers continue to grow, reports show overall advertising revenue from the last six months is down.

While it’s safe to say advertising revenue is unlikely to dry up any time soon, there are concerns from users that options to minimise advertising on your page will disappear in the fight for advertising real estate to keep its value.

In an initial step, Facebook has announced the introduction of advertising on their mobile platform, currently an ad free space. Whether this is enough to combat the dip in ad space value however remains to be seen.

Having introduced their new timeline format to business pages just over a month ago in a soft launch, Facebook has now officially made the switch to all pages in a mandatory update. Similar to the new format for personal profiles, the timeline for pages offers a host of new features and ditches a few of the old, in some cases dividing opinion. To help point the way, WhiteRhino’s web developer and resident wizard Jason sat down to give us the rundown on the pros and cons of the social media giant’s latest facelift, providing a few useful hints along the way on how to optimise the benefits for social savvy businesses.

As with previous Facebook revamps, improvements in functionality, accessibility and user interactivity have been driving factors in the redesign. To this means, several major changes including the introduction of the cover photo (banner image) and larger photo display have been introduced.

“The cover photo is one of the biggest benefits to businesses as that banner space provides much bigger promo capacity than previously available,” says Jason. In addition, the ability to highlight specific stories allows businesses to control what gets priority on their page, pointing visitors to important news and positive feedback over other news.

The improved accessibility of the data and analysis information is also a major bonus for businesses wanting to track customer engagement through their page. The analysis tool is much more akin to that of a blog, says Jason, adding that “while it’s not much different to before in terms of actual tools, it’s much easier to find and use now, saving time and effort when collecting this data.”

Next the newly introduced capacity to direct message (DM) business pages serves to further encourage customer feedback and interactivity between consumers and businesses. In terms of using social media as a tool for genuine feedback and interaction says Jason, this is a big step but one that requires proper handling. “It’s important to acknowledge messages from clients or consumers, whether positive or negative as it can both cut down formal correspondences to help lines and encourage more genial resolutions to potential problems.

Businesses and consumers alike however should be aware of the cons of the new design as there are potential pitfalls for both parties. “The loss of the conversation tracking or wall-to-wall feature is a big one,” says Jason, highlighting how it is now virtually impossible to track interactions between two parties chronologically anymore. This means all wall-to-wall conversation history has been virtually eradicated so there is no paper trail to track interactions that have taken place publicly.

As well as this, apps (e.g. pages like forms or booking info etc.) have now been limited on the home page, making them harder to find and access and in some cases reducing the functionality of the page for some business interactions. Posts in the no longer static timeline design are also now subject to moving around the page, meaning posts not highlighted (including negative comments or feedback) are quickly lost. It’s also now harder to follow a page’s interactions as events are categorised under ‘Activity’ and ‘Likes’ boxes rather than chronologically. This is not necessarily a bad thing for businesses but consumers should be aware of this when posting complaints or feedback.

“Basically, businesses will need to adapt their approach to using Facebook as a tool,” says Jason of the update, recommending all businesses take the time to learn their way around the new features and design, familiarising themselves to avoid unnecessary gaffes and improve the usability of their page.

Our rhinos get crafty just in time for Easter as part of Simply Energy’s latest Simply Snippets edition!
Have a happy and safe Easter from the team at WhiteRhino.

Basic Details
This seems like a no-brainer but make sure you start every brief with the basic details necessary to proceed. Contact details, the job and its deadline should not be hard to find so make sure this info is up-front and accurate.

Overview
The overview should include the requirements of the job, the context in which it exists, relevant background information (briefly) and the timeline.

Background & Material
It’s important to put jobs in the context of past campaigns, so here is the spot to provide relevant past material. Any carry-over content that remains relevant should also be provided as well as new content, brand guidelines and other information. If the job involves any kind of co-branding, sponsorship or partnership, make sure all relevant background and style and branding specifications for ALL parties are provided.

Target Audience
Who are you trying to reach? What is the demographic, the purpose in communicating with them? What is their relationship to the client? It is useful to supply some detail about the background, likely views and values and density of the target audience.

The Core Message
This is the purpose of your job or campaign, summarised in a sentence. It can also include the call to action if there is one.

Unique Selling Point
What sets your brand or product apart from the competition? This is the most crucial point to made through your communication as it is what will pull your target audience’s attention.

Creative Direction
The creative direction should include in greater detail the brand style (including for any associated brands), the desired look and feel, the tone of voice and any other brand specific direction to be considered.

The brand recently transformed its Chapel St store window and the campaign is set to be rolled out nationwide over the next few months. By combining the convenience of online shopping with the advantage of strategically placed 24/7 interactive ads, Sportsgirl’s new digital marketing initiative is at the forefront of the Australian retail landscape. Stay tuned for who will be next to pick up on the high-tech shopping trend…

Recently I hosted a staff lunch in the board room. It was a Middle Eastern themed lunch, complete with Arabic menus. Delicious!

1. WhatTheFont
(Free)
Sourced from My Fonts’ comprehensive font library, WhatTheFont allows you to identify fonts directly from your phone. Snap photos from within the app or choose from saved photos in your photo library.

In-phone image processing optimises upload for speed and accuracy. You can then view font details in your web browser or share a link. This app is fast, accurate and extremely handy for any designer.

2. Shillington Design Reference App
(Free)

Designed by a pair of graduates from international graphic design institution Shillington, this app covers useful design basics in a clean, functional layout.

Features include helpful Adobe CS keyboard shortcuts, international paper sizes, typography definitions and tips, artwork checklist and pre-press terminology.

A great reference app, this is a must-have for students and old hands alike.

3. myPANTONE™ X-Ref
($1.99)

A portable swatch-book, Pantone’s colour reference app is the ultimate guide to cross system matching.

Simply enter an RGB, CMYK or Hexadecimal value and to find the closest Pantone Color match sourced from the following colour system libraries:

• New PANTONE PLUS Formula Guides Solid Coated and Uncoated with 224 new colors
• New PANTONE PLUS Color Bridge Coated and Uncoated
• PANTONE Goe™ Coated and Uncoated
• PANTONE Goe Bridge Coated
• PANTONE FASHION + HOME (paper and cotton)

4. Classic Color Meter
($0.99)

Found the colour but need the name? Classic Colour Meter measures and displays the colour values of pixels displayed on the screen, giving you a direct means of identification.

A drop-in replacement for Apple’s DigitalColor Meter application, the app restores all functionality previously available in Snow Leopard’s DigitalColor Meter.

Whilst not free this is definitely a valuable cheapy to have in your back pocket.

5. Ruler 2
($0.99)

Finally the most analogue tool of all – the ruler – has been digitalized. Simply drag the pointer for precise, fully formatted measurements with fractions for inches, decimals or centimeters. Convert between US and metric systems with one tap and save measurements on LED scrap paper to see what you measured and when.

Ruler 2 is a handy tool, not just for designers and at a dollar, is definitely worth the spend.

As one of these designers you will assist the creative team across a broad range of work including print, branding, web and digital, creative campaign and promo and anything else coming through the studio.

This is a role for designers keen to throw themselves into the industry and work hard as part of the team in a busy studio environment.

Requirements:
Tertiary qualifications in graphic design or a related field
Fluent in PS, ILL & IND (web skills also an advantage)
Comfortable collaborating with management and other team members and both taking direction and working independently
Posses a passion for type, conceptual excellence and big ideas
Committed to working hard to keep our valued clients happy
A folio chockers with outstanding work (even if predominantly student work)

All applicants must send a DIGITAL portfolio and PDF resume with subject ‘Junior Designer’ to jobs@whiterhino.com.au (maximum of 5 MG).
Please note phone enquiries not accepted.

I used an old film camera to capture some of our very own rhinos in action.

This tweet from Melbourne Rebels hooker Heath Tessman sparked some interesting conversation around the office about Twitter etiquette, revealing our collective pet hates and highlighting the need for a clear definition between personal and company tweets.

It’s a bit of a grey area just where to draw the line between relaxed and just lax when it comes to tweeting for business, so after serious discussion we narrowed our combined Twitter peeves and pointers, compiling our Safari Guide to Business ‘Tweetiquette’:

So there you have it, our first basic pointers to successful business tweeting. We’re sure the list will grow and change and we welcome any contributions, so if you have a handy hint or point to contest – tweet us!