Roundup Of The Best Brand Timelines On Facebook

You may have been wondering what’s taken me so long to come back with the final article in the 3-post series on the major announcements made for marketers and brands at Facebook’s first marketing conference. Well, I was waiting to see how brands turn Facebook’s marketing enhancements into creative folios using the new Timeline view. With the forced switch over for brand Pages to the Timeline view over the weekend, we have done a quick scan of some of the leading luxury, lifestyle, and consumer brands Pages to see how much value brands place on the platform that’s seeking to be the definitive face of a brand’s digital identity.

Who has done it the best? We want to call out brands that have taken interest in designing creative Cover Photos and innovative twists to illustrate their brand stories, interesting factoids, and their intriguing and impressive heritage. The likes of Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Tiffany & Co., and Piaget have got their Timelines right, complete with attractive Cover Photos and a well drawn out brand history along the years. But most of these brands have always been trendsetters in social media and 3 of the 5 names mentioned above had invested time and effort in designing their Timeline when it was first announced, and didn’t have to be forced into it two days ago.

One of my favorite Timeline Pages comes from the weavers of magic, Disney. Disney has so beautifully outlined the company’s history with images of watercolor movie posters and sketched illustrations that its Facebook Page nearly brings the magic to life. The Disneyland brand Page has a very inviting Cover Photo, but there’s so much more potential for the brand to take families down memory lane with joyous moments wrapped in photos and milestones going back to the day the legendary brand started spreading happiness around the world.

Over on the romantic side of travel and hospitality, we have tried something interesting with Starwood APAC’s F&B Page – SPG Restaurants & Bars – by creatively highlighting their various milestones, stellar F&B openings, and accolades along the Timeline in a thematic manner. The opening of Starwood’s tallest F&B venue deserved something special and that made for a unique 2011 milestone. Of the big luxury chain brands, Hilton and The Langham Hotels & Resorts are other brands that have well filled out Timelines, complete with a list of brand events and happenings over the decades.

While there are exceptionally well-done brand Timelines from Fanta, Ford Mustang, and several others, there are brands that may need more time until they have fully exploited the possibilities offered by the new Facebook Timeline for brands.

Fashion brands like Hermès and Gucci have uploaded glossy Cover Photos, but have done little in terms of introducing interesting brand stories, facts, and milestones or filling out their Timelines. Given that Prada only joined Facebook in January this year, this would have been a good opportunity for the brand to play catch up on the platform that’s come to be a significant marketing and communications channel in the luxury industry; however, the high-end luxury brand hasn’t done much else besides adding a Cover Photo ahead of the forced switch over to the Timeline view. Chanel has done something different from the rest – it has a creative illustration for its Profile Picture and a plain monochromatic Chanel logo in its branded typeface as its Cover Photo, yet no mention of its legendary brand campaigns and company history by way of milestones and starred posts.

Four Seasons has spent $18 million on its website makeover, but the brand has been slow in adopting Facebook’s new features for brands. The luxury hospitality brand, together with many others like Marriott, Marriott Rewards, Hyatt and Hilton Hhonors, may need more time enhancing their Facebook presence with the frills and fancies of the new Timeline.

I am sure it won’t be long before these brands ramp up their Facebook presence, as it has already been shown that brands get 46% more engagement per post with the new Timeline. It is easier for brand loyalists and fans to discover content that is automatically presented in an alluring fashion with the media-heavy layout on the new brand Pages and that makes for the disproportionately high engagement for multimedia content.

Image Source: Simply Measured

Hope that the roundup of the best and not-yet-there Facebook Timelines for brands will inspire you to get artsy and fun with your brand Pages. You know you have to make them impressive; Facebook Pages are bigger and better than ever before!