Facebook launches IPO

Facebook's foray into openly trading on the stock market began on February 1, 2012 when it filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission and was given a valuation of approximately $5 billion dollars. Potential investors were not told the cost of the stock or how many shares would be available for purchase, only that trading would begin in late May 2012.

Trading of Facebook stock began this past Friday allowing anxious investors to finally own a piece of the Facebook empire. The stock opened on the Nasdaq at $38/share and did break at least one record according to the Wall Street Journal, volume. In fact, "Facebook had traded 460 million shares by 3:07 EDT. The most ever for a US stock on the day of it's IPO."(http://stream.wsj.com/story/facebook-ipo/SS-2-9640/) But the record breaking has not continued.

As the market closed on the first few days of trading, the price of Facebook stock has started to fall. On Monday (May 21, 2012) the stock closed at $34.08 down 9.4% from the IPO price of $38. On Tuesday (May 22, 2012) Facebook stock was valued at only $31 when trading ended for the day. As the stock price continues to fall both current and potential investors are asking if Facebook is indeed a good investment.

Experts are wondering the same. In fact, IPO expert and professor of finance at the University of Florida Jay Ritter cautions that the IPO market is very unpredictable. Ritter argues that perhaps the price to sales ratio of the stock is too high, but he still invested. Other experts agree with Ritter and believe that the initial price of the stock was too high and did not account for other risks associated with an IPO such as:

*Many marketers have not figured out how to use Facebook
*There is a lack of strategy that has been established for using social media
*Content investment is difficult
*Consumers are not caring about brands in a social context through Facebook.

For more expert opinions on the IPO take a look at the video below or click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIm9EsPFX6c

Less than a week into trading there are still many questions about whether or not Facebook will be a stock market success or utter failure but it sure does have some work to do.

- Rachel

A NEW Perspective

Summer has arrived and with its arrival there are changes in the weather as well as to the Humber Marketing blog. With that said, let me introduce myself. My name is Rachel Kennedy and I have the pleasure of taking over from Tim Hendry and continuing to manage and write the official blog for the Humber Marketing Diploma Program. I was excited when I was asked to continue where Tim left off because social media and communication with students and colleagues is so important in the marketing field and I love to tell people about the great and innovative things that are happening! Throughout the summer the blog will be filled with personal anecdotes, events news and reviews and insights on interesting articles, posts from other blogs or newsworthy marketing stories that I hope you will find informative and entertaining. Share, comment, subscribe and tell your friends!

With the arrival of the summer, I have finally started to think about graduation in December and I have realized that there are a lot of things I like but only really three that I could think of as offering me a fulfilling career in marketing: music, traveling and the arts. To be honest, three is not that many so I started talking to friends about their interests; comic books, Star Wars, Star Trek, urban planning and medicine, so I decided to do some research. I read some comics, watched Star Wars and Star Trek, went on some Jane Walks and read A LOT.

With new found likes and my true areas of interest (somewhat) confirmed I looked into events and activities that would allow me to meet people in marketing, travel, the arts and music. The following are just a few of the things I am really excited about:

1) I was accepted to the Humber OCMC team for 2012.
2) I am volunteering for NXNE one of the best summer art and music festivals that Canada has to offer. (www.nxne.com)
3) I am hoping to volunteer for orientation at Humber in the fall.
4) I am attending STORE 2012 June 4-5, one of Canada's largest retailing conferences. (http://www.storeconference.ca/)
5) I am attending the AdBuzz event "What You Weren't Taught in School." Check out the event details here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3323824649?ebtv=C

What I realized from all of this is that I still haven't figured everything out but I am excited to be moving in the right direction. I guess overall, the two concrete results that came out of this mini experiment were that I am excited, and nervous for graduation but that through it all I am going to have a great time and meet some amazing new people.

-Rachel

Almost A Year Later ...

Its 3 o’clock in the morning, the bar is shutting down, and the servers are kicking you and your friends out. You then stumble down the street to Mickey D’s and wolf down a handful of cheeseburgers before you go home to pass out... Sound familiar? We’ve all been there before, and someday we’ll all be there again - just not quite as often as we once were.

Just over a year ago, like many of you, I had no clue where or what I would be doing in 2012. I didn’t know if I was going to be a business owner, a university student, a Humber student, or a “nobody” working for a “somebody”.

Now, thanks to the hard work and dedication of many, I can say that I know who I am, what skills I hone, and I have a clear picture of where I want to be in 5 years. As someone with a passion for marketing and communications, finding the right mentorship to guide those skills towards success is what I truly lacked. Humber proved to be a valuable resource for me. I was able to create strong relationships with many industry professionals, and I was able to get the support and mentorship of a few professors that would be instrumental in finding me opportunities when I graduated.

There was one course in particular that helped me to raise the bar more than ever, and that was the Internet Marketing course that so many students are excited to take. Whether it was providing special pricing at major marketing events or engaging in real life projects that build valuable experience, the Internet Marketing course pushes even the least motivated students to get their hands dirty. I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without it!


Working with many of Canada’s largest corporate institutions has proven to me that the skills that I picked up in this course are incredibly valuable – skills that are really a “need-to-have,” not a “nice-to-have.” Skills that I am using everyday to stay current and to develop in my career in digital marketing.

In today’s rapidly changing environment, those plagued by FUD (fear, uncertainty, and denial) do not succeed. In the digital world, we are preparing to enter a dynamic period in time where hardcore developers are going to get an opportunity to showcase their talents like never before and as marketers we need to stay on top of these trends and opportunities.  As creative marketers, it takes a strong knowledge of new technology, communication channels and of course people to be successful.

With this being said, I hope many of you decide to make the right choices, and respect the right people. Because, you will find that as you get older, your life can change pretty quickly after a year goes by. I wish you all the best of luck in your ventures – and look forward to seeing you at future Humber marketing events. Cheers!

Zac