Facebook press release is a classical PR whitewash to rebrand Facebook through POSITIONING it as the FIRST brand that is fighting for users privacy.
>>As a Namecheap customer, I'm glad that they aren't giving up their customers privacy.
This is how we at the community of HN and engineers see it, but not how average non-technical person sees it.
I'm a hacker who worked in PR and advertising; I worked on media monitoring; I drafted many press releases like this and worked on PR campaigns for P&G, LG and Unilever and other global brands.
Here is what I learned: every time I read a stupid press release like this, I ask which audience is this company targeting? And why?
To read this differently, think of the target audience. Who is Facebook targeting with this press release?
Clearly, Facebook is not targeting the community of HN, or tech, evident by the number of people saying Facebook shouldn't sue Namecheap.
Facebook is targeting the average person.
Facebook is whitewashing/managing its PR crisis of privacy invasion by establishing itself as the FIRST tech leader who is fighting for people privacy.
Like it or not, Facebook is the only one in the tech industry who is doing it and is being loud..underscore being loud.
No other tech giant is fighting to be the leader in protecting users privacy and is being loud, I'm not talking about non-profit. I'm talking about Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook.
Just read these poetic lines from the press release:
"We don't want people to be deceived by these web addresses, so we've taken legal action. We filed a similar lawsuit in October 2019 against OnlineNIC, another domain registrar, and its proxy service. Our goal is to create consequences for those who seek to do harm and we will continue to take legal action to protect people from domain name fraud and abuse."
Facebook is taking the initiative of fighting for users privacy, and it doesn't matter whether they are truthful or deceptive. What matters is that they are the first.
We only remember the first.
"The easy way to get into a person’s mind is to be first. If you can’t be first, then you must find a way to position yourself against the product, the politician, the person who did get there first
What’s the name of the first person to fly solo across the North Atlantic? Charles Lindbergh, right? Now, what’s the name of the second person to fly solo across the North Atlantic? Not so easy to answer, is it? What’s the name of the first person to walk on the moon? Neil Armstrong, of course. What’s the name of the second? What’s the name of the highest mountain in the world? Mount Everest in the Himalayas, right? What’s the name of the second highest mountain in the world? What’s the name of the first person you ever made love with? What’s the name of the second? The first person, the first mountain, the first company to occupy the position in the mind is going to be awfully hard to dislodge. Kodak in photography, Kleenex in tissue, Xerox in plainpaper copiers, Hertz in rent-a-cars, Coca in cola, General in electric. The first thing you need to “fix your message indelibly in the mind” is not a message at all.
>>As a Namecheap customer, I'm glad that they aren't giving up their customers privacy. This is how we at the community of HN and engineers see it, but not how average non-technical person sees it.
I'm a hacker who worked in PR and advertising; I worked on media monitoring; I drafted many press releases like this and worked on PR campaigns for P&G, LG and Unilever and other global brands.
Here is what I learned: every time I read a stupid press release like this, I ask which audience is this company targeting? And why?
To read this differently, think of the target audience. Who is Facebook targeting with this press release? Clearly, Facebook is not targeting the community of HN, or tech, evident by the number of people saying Facebook shouldn't sue Namecheap.
Facebook is targeting the average person. Facebook is whitewashing/managing its PR crisis of privacy invasion by establishing itself as the FIRST tech leader who is fighting for people privacy.
Like it or not, Facebook is the only one in the tech industry who is doing it and is being loud..underscore being loud. No other tech giant is fighting to be the leader in protecting users privacy and is being loud, I'm not talking about non-profit. I'm talking about Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook.
Just read these poetic lines from the press release: "We don't want people to be deceived by these web addresses, so we've taken legal action. We filed a similar lawsuit in October 2019 against OnlineNIC, another domain registrar, and its proxy service. Our goal is to create consequences for those who seek to do harm and we will continue to take legal action to protect people from domain name fraud and abuse."
Facebook is taking the initiative of fighting for users privacy, and it doesn't matter whether they are truthful or deceptive. What matters is that they are the first.
We only remember the first.
"The easy way to get into a person’s mind is to be first. If you can’t be first, then you must find a way to position yourself against the product, the politician, the person who did get there first What’s the name of the first person to fly solo across the North Atlantic? Charles Lindbergh, right? Now, what’s the name of the second person to fly solo across the North Atlantic? Not so easy to answer, is it? What’s the name of the first person to walk on the moon? Neil Armstrong, of course. What’s the name of the second? What’s the name of the highest mountain in the world? Mount Everest in the Himalayas, right? What’s the name of the second highest mountain in the world? What’s the name of the first person you ever made love with? What’s the name of the second? The first person, the first mountain, the first company to occupy the position in the mind is going to be awfully hard to dislodge. Kodak in photography, Kleenex in tissue, Xerox in plainpaper copiers, Hertz in rent-a-cars, Coca in cola, General in electric. The first thing you need to “fix your message indelibly in the mind” is not a message at all.
Ries, Al. Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind