Last week the Interpublic Group communications holding company announced a unique partnership with popular social networking site www.facebook.com. Facebook is the second most popular social networking site and one of the top ten most trafficked sites on the Internet. It also represents approximately 65% of college students in the United States. It’s user composition is slightly more refined than MySpace and until recently, a “.edu” email address was required for participation.

As part of this partnership, the Interpublic Group of companies (McCann, FCB/Draft, Deutsch, Jack Morton, etc) will receive .05% ownership of Facebook.com in return for a 10 million dollar Advertising commitment. Moreover, Interpublic will receive preferential access to prime ad space on Facebook.

This partnership is a brilliant move for Interpublic, especially given the recent success of MySpace. While News Corp. paid $500 million dollars to control advertising on MySpace, IPG secured a mutually beneficial partnership with Facebook. Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg suggested a sale price of $2 billion dollars for the popular website however, he decided not to sell.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this deal is: the Interpublic agencies will gain exclusive access to Facebook user data for research purposes. The group will be able to track the hobbies, behavioral patterns and phenomenon of social marketing. This will prove to be a significant upper hand.

The strategic partnership will give us access to the youth market and a platform from which to learn about the dynamics of social networks and participate in this increasingly important medium. Facebook’s users represent a difficult-to-reach – but very key – audience for many of our clients. Young and tech-savvy consumers are increasingly shunning traditional media vehicles and defining themselves and their community online. Facebook is among the top ten most-trafficked sites in the United States. More than 65% of all college students have made it an important part of their lives and it is gaining popularity with the high school market. That’s why this alignment makes so much sense for us.
- Michael I. Roth, Chairman, CEO of Interpublic Group Companies

The implications of this deal are tremendous and Marketing.fm commends Interpublic for thinking outside of the box. The deal will offer McCann, FCB/Draft and their brands a significant advantage in access to the elusive and desirable young adult demographic. Welcome to Advertising 2.0.

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[tags] Interpublic Group, IPG, Facebook, MySpace, marketing.fm, social networking, advertising, agency [/tags]