I am reading this news about Telefónica’s acquisition of 85%/90% (around €70 million) of Tuenti. Sources VERY close to the company denied it, but it is clear that this is what happened, well…

I remember that studiVZ sold when it had 4 MILL registered users for €81 million. Well, it was 2007 and it was a different time… the good thing is that the former owners of the German social network have shares in all the horses running in this social-network race, so they never lose. That is why they say
not to bet only on yourself, but to spread the weight across things that have nothing to do with your activity.

After this new phase for the social network, I wonder what the entry of a new owner brand into the network will be like, bearing in mind the precedent with “keteke”… but let us remain hopeful. Sometimes it is worrying when a large group acquires a brand that is also based on relationships of trust between users. Obviously monetization is important, but we already have experience with these processes.

I recall 2 basic principles that I was taught in Germany,
1) Whoever buys, there must be an alma mater here that looks after the brand like a brand angel;
2) Respect and try to preserve the reason for users’ presence and activity, and manage the intrusion of advertising.

Talking with @busaquita, we said that a company’s reputation can be understood—or even measured—in several ways: on the one hand, through forum indicators as a “corporate” brand; on another, through the user experience; and, ultimately, through public opinion. What we want to see is how this can affect the purchase decision.

In connection with the article I read on puromarketing “Tuenti and Telefónica: The dangers of online reputation in the face of a multi-million acquisition”, Tuenti users really should not care who the owner is if the space where they have been active all this time is respected, and if there are no major changes in appearance—which I do not think they will make: “the first law of marketing is: – if it works, do not touch it -“—but try to understand why it works.

Once again, we are back to analyzing what happens when two brands become reputationally linked. It will surely have repercussions, but which ones?

According to the latest brand report produced by Superbrands, Telefónica is considered one of Spain’s most prestigious brands, although this recognition does not align with other fundamental aspects such as those highlighted and denounced by FACUA–Consumers in Action, in view of the numerous abuses and frauds that continuously occur in the telecommunications sector.

Very well. After this reflection, we are back to the same point: OK, perhaps keteke did not work because it was created by a brand with proven commercial aims and because it was born at a time when networks had already penetrated excessively (this second reason is less clear). I still remember the Universia network, which sooo many users claim it has, and I say: tell me—when you enrolled at university, OK, they signed you up automatically, but how many of us were active users..¿?

I believe that, in the end, they will be fully complementary. I do not know whether users will be expecting a discount on contracts, calls, various services… it is clear they are very good prospects, but the crux of the matter is how they are looked after…

Now we will read the report “Influence of brands in Society 2.0” produced by the advertising agency NCA in collaboration with IE Business School, which shows, for example, that Movistar is one of the companies that makes the greatest use of social media, but it ranks at the bottom of the best-rated list.

In my opinion, I think both brands have the same problem—or not. That is, Telefónica users disagree with the call center, customer support, prices… but better the devil you know than the devil you do not. And on Tuenti, users will not switch networks if their space is not substantially changed, and with all the information they have uploaded, relationships… it is just too much effort. Only a generational change can “kill” it—in the end, the biological solution…

I cannot help but look at what happened in Germany with studiVZ and how, in the end, it did not survive Facebook…