I’m not sure where that tangent came from but that certainly wouldn’t be the lesson learned.
The lesson learned is that these small “brands” that can only exist due to adware (fake demand) will eventually be culled by increases in prices or de-amplification of their products.
If your “brand” is one of these then you should be learning that you need to actually make a good product at a good price that doesn’t rely on advertising to succeed in your marketplace. Otherwise you are always at risk of being squeezed and potentially shut down.
Many (certainly not all) of these companies are parasites in that the rely on Meta to utilize algorithms to get you addicted and alter your purchasing habits. They don’t actually offer a good product at a good price, they offer copies of other products with different labels, or in some cases outright, disposable junk.
I'm being serious. The competitive nature that you mention proves the point. Don't compete.
Are you a local coffee shop or clothing designer? Why would you be advertising on Facebook when you should be partnering with a local news site or city/town interest site, or going to meetups, or sponsoring local events?
Relying on Facebook ads builds artificial demand, subjects you to extreme competition, and ultimately either you have to spend too much to maintain or you eventually lose customers because the only reason they were interested in your product was the ads in the first place. Live by the ad, die by the ad.
> you should be partnering with a local news site or city/town interest site, or going to meetups, or sponsoring local events?
All of that is advertising.
I was replying to this:
> If your “brand” is one of these then you should be learning that you need to actually make a good product at a good price that doesn’t rely on advertising to succeed in your marketplace.
They did, but the explosion of very specific businesses is almost entirely down to Google and Facebook changing the cost structure for these businesses by providing global advertising reach for companies that are small but have products that can be purchased anywhere.
of all the brands, apple cult brand is the strongest, it's hard to argue when it's already spelled out word per word in their leak internal memos that their intention to stop tracking was because they wanted a cut of FB's ad revenue.
Their execution under the guise of caring for user privacy is a master class though, it's impeccably done, there should be a case study done about this.
The philosophical lesson is that certain businesses just can’t exist without targeted advertisements, and that society might decide that is a price they are willing to pay.
This feels like a cheap take. Consider any number of small businesses just starting out (a local juice bar, a fitness service, a mobile app, a game...). They have a good product that makes their customers happy. The problem is they only have 5 customers and that won't pay the bills. They could hope that they just get lucky and people just discover them (it happens but its rare), or they can go out and promote their product. So they invest in marketing and sometimes this means buying ads. Can this business exist without targeted ads? Of course it can, but the odds are stacked against them. Saying they can't exist is an exaggeration.
