Facebook is reportedly rebranding Instagram and WhatsApp to boost the company's reputation and gain credit for the two apps' achievements.
According to a recent report, Facebook is rebranding its other two platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp, to include its name. These platforms will now be known as “Instagram for Facebook” and “Whatsapp for Facebook,” says the report.
Back in 2012, Facebook acquired Instagram. Then two years later, the social media giant also added WhatsApp to its list of acquisitions.
Until now, the apps were branded differently and had operated independently of the parent company. As a result, they had remained untarnished by the privacy scandal that has plagued Facebook.
That’s why the move to rebrand had been both met with surprise, and confusion among Facebook employees, especially since Facebook is undergoing more scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
This makes you wonder why Facebook is changing the names of its other apps.
Why Facebook is Rebranding Instagram and WhatsApp
Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly frustrated that Facebook doesn’t take credit for WhatsApp and Instagram’s successes. According to a DuckDuckGo 2018 survey, over 50 percent of Americans didn’t know Facebook owns Instagram or WhatsApp.
Facebook’s brand, on the other hand, has been tarnished by loads of privacy scandals. Users are getting more aware of the company’s data collection practices.
By associating these other social media platform with Facebook, the CEO hopes to improve the overall company’s brand image.
Facebook Spokeswoman, Bertie Thompson, confirmed the rebranding. In a statement to the press, Thompson said:
“We want to be clearer about the products and services that are part of Facebook.”
Thompson also noted that the company is already using similar branding with its other products like the enterprise chat tool, WorkPlace. So, the social media apps rebranding was bound to happen at some point.
Users will see the “from Facebook” branding when they log into the apps and when visiting the App Store or Google Play to download.
Unifying the Family of Social Media Apps
Zuckerberg has, in recent months, expressed interest in unifying the messaging system behind the three apps – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. With this merger, users will able to communicate across the three social media platforms.
Not only could this improve loyalty to the messaging ecosystem, but it could also bring eCommerce opportunities to the brand.
Thompson declined to comment further on the matter.
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