Digital Marketing Investment & Threats of Foreign Ownership
Hungry investors stake their claim in digital marketing IPOs.
Back in December I suggested that 2010 will be a big year for digital IPOs. We’ve already seen this playing out in the FriendFinder IPO.
New theme: concern over foreign ownership of social networks.
As social networks become investment targets, international ownership may fuel new concerns over privacy. One of the things I learned from the FriendFinder prospectus is that the majority of its 135 million members are outside the US.
Do you think ownership of social networks by companies backed by foreign governments would have a chilling effect on users? Imagine how much advantage one could gain through detailed knowledge of social networks. An adult site like FriendFinder is chock full of secrets, which could be useful in manipulation.
The future of digital experiences will be built by strategists who grasp the full array of emerging business, social, and technical models. Specialties in user experience, branding, application design, and data science are laying the foundation for richer user experiences and business models breakthrough products and revenue based marketing.