By Remy Raitt
At the beginning of the year the group posted job advertisements on the web, but since then very little information about the South Africa Facebook offices has surfaced. Media Update managed to track down a spokesperson for the group to find out a bit more.
With over 50 offices globally the spokesperson says an African presence was a logical and strategic move. “Our first office in Africa is an important next step to strengthening our partnership with businesses across the continent,” they say. “Our new office will support our customers across the continent, some of which we are already working with.”
According to the source; “South Africa is an incredibly exciting market as is evident in the local talent and we look forward to becoming a part of the ecosystem and helping businesses connect with people and entrepreneurs partner with Facebook.”
The Johannesburg based office will support Facebook customers across Africa but they believe a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work when it comes to building products and solutions that address the diverse needs of the continent. The spokesperson says this is why they are committed to creating solutions tailored to people, businesses and specifically African markets.
“We believe in building localised solutions that help brands connect with people in meaningful ways,” the spokesperson says. “We aim to help advertisers reach anyone, across any level of connectivity (and on any device), based on how and when people want to connect.”
For example, the fact that most people in Africa access Facebook via feature phones, encouraged the group to enable adverts on these devices and continue to optimise the experience for both brands and people, which, they say, enables one mobile strategy across devices.
Their aim is to help business grow locally and regionally, which will support businesses in understanding the value of Facebook. They believe a home base on the continent will ensure Facebook continues to be an integral part of peoples’ personal and business lives. And there certainly is room for growth. Although 120 million continental users is by no means a small reach, when the African population of around one billion people is considered, the room to expand is evident.
The group’s main aims for the new office are to grown and maintain relationships and learn more about Africa as a continent. “Our main commercial priority for the next few months is to continue further the great work we are doing with some of our clients in this region already. We also want to understand the real business challenges of the clients and agencies so that we can provide solutions that help our clients grow their business.”
The sales team in Africa will initially focus on Sub-Saharan Africa; Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, but will also be supporting Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia too.