After THAT blow at IPO time, GM talks to Facebook on advertising again
Could General Motors be heading back to Facebook with its advertising? Eight months ago GM pulled its ads on the social network, saying they had little impact - and put a sizeable dent in Facebook's image before its IPO due just three days later.
GAM: Ads back on Facebook?
Now a top GM executive said has said that the car firm and Facebook are discussing the return of the the return of GM as a paid advertiser .
Alan Batey, GM's interim marketing chief, said at the Detroit auto show that discussions with Facebook officials were ongoing .
"We're still actively talking to them and looking at opportunities that come our way," Batey told Reuters.
Previously GM said it spent about $40 million on its Facebook presence, but only $10 million of that was for actual advertising. The rest was connected with the creation of content.
Sources said last summer that the two companies were discussing GM's return. Facebook volunteered data showing the effectiveness of the website's paid ads- but did not offer any concessions.
Batey declined to discuss the current talks or to provide a possible timing for GM's return to, where it still has pages for which it pays no fees to market its car and trucks.
"I wouldn't want to predict if there's something, but I also wouldn't be surprised if there were some things," he said.
Batey is still the "interim" marketing chief. . GM's former marketing chief Joel Ewanick was fired last August for not properly disclosing the full cost of a $559 million sponsorship deal with Manchester United.