Public perception measuring tool BrandIndex sees rise in positive feeling towards newly-floated social media firm even despite subsequent fall in post-float fortunes
Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site, made headlines with its IPO last Friday. The company announced in February of this year that it would soon be trading on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange).
Earlier this month, founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would be leading a ‘Roadshow’ for Facebook in order to arouse interest on its soon-to-be available shares.
By May 18th, the day of the IPO launch, Facebook had raised more than 10 billion pounds from investors, and the company began trading with a share price of £24 ($38) each. Also, on this day, Facebook’s share price valued the firm at £66bn ($104bn), meaning the value of Facebook was greater than that of Disney, McDonald’s and Kraft. This was not only the largest debut ever achieved by an internet company, but it was also the third largest US IPO in history.
Buzz in the UK measured on BrandIndex has shown considerable uplift for Facebook since the start of this month as news of the IPO created a positive vibe around the brand. Buzz increased from -8 on May 2 to +6 on Monday. This 10 point increase has meant that for the first time in nearly six months, Facebook is on an even keel with its social media rival Twitter.
So some bright news for Facebook amidst the gloom of their subsequent share price falls this week.
It will be interesting to see if the increases seen on Buzz can continue for the social media giant post-IPO and the stock price slide that it has seen since then.
Additionally, what remains to be seen is how the recent stock launch will impact on other key brand health measures for Facebook, such as value and overtime satisfaction.
