페이스북이 한국에 또 왔다.
이번엔 서열 2위이자 최고운영책임자(COO)인 셰릴 샌드버그가 방문해 삼성전자의 최초 여성 부사장인 심수옥을 만났다.
표면적으로 두 사람의 만남은 뛰어난 리더십을 갖춘 차세대 여성 임원간의 환담이었다. 전날 샌드버그가 여성의 리더십에 대해 강연한 내용과 더불어, 심부사장이 예전에 샌드버그의 저서, “Lean In”에 추천서를 써줬다는 점 등으로 볼 때 더없이 부담 없는 자리였다.
하지만 업계 관계자들에 따르면, 샌드버그가 온 진짜 이유는 약 2주전, CEO인 주커버그의 못다한 일을 마무리 짓기 위해서다.
그들은 이번 만남의 주제를 "모바일 협력"으로 보며, “페이스북에서 한 달도 채 안되는 기간 동안에 두 번이나 다녀가는 점을 생각해보면 답이 나온다”고 귀뜸했다.
지난 달 한국을 방문한 주커버그는 신종균 무선사업부 사장을 만났다. 당시에 몇몇 관계자들은 페이스북을 바탕으로 하는 스마트폰 제조를 논의했다는 분석을 내놨었다.
“아마 그때 그 이야기는 잘 안됐을 것,”이라며 이번에는 전반적인 모바일 그리고 마케팅 관련 협력의 큰 그림을 논의하러 온 것으로 전망했다.
심부사장이 삼성전자 최고마케팅책임자임을 봤을 때 "팔로우업 미팅"에 더 무게가 실린다는 게 업계의 설명이다.
한 때 전세계적인 SNS 붐을 일으킨 페이스북은 최근들어 광고가 현저하게 줄어드는 등 마케팅에 큰 어려움을 겪고 있는 것으로 알려졌다.
또, 페이스북으로서는 삼성을 제외하고는 협력의 대상도 마땅히 없다. 이미 HTC와는 뼈아픈 실패를 경험했고, 구글은 삼성과 깊은 협력관계에 있다. 게다가 애플은 다른 생각을 할만한 여력이 없는 상황이다.
<관련 영문 기사>
Facebook’s Sandberg follows up ‘mobile partnership’ with Samsung
By Kim Ji-hyun
Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg on Thursday held a meeting with Samsung Electronics’ vice president Shim Soo-ok to discuss ways to strike a “mobile partnership,” sources told The Korea Herald.
On the exterior, the meeting was designed to appear as if Sandberg was here to promote her book, “Lean In,” for which Shim wrote a recommendation. Shim was designated as Sandberg’s official Samsung counterpart for this trip to Korea.
But the sources said in reality, Sandberg was here to talk about hard business -- more specifically, on how Facebook may strike up any kind of partnership with Samsung, now one of the most powerful device makers in the world.
The meeting was therefore perceived as a speedy follow-up to previous talks Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg held just over two weeks ago.
Zuckerberg had met with President Park Geun-hye as well as Shin Jong-kyun, Samsung’s mobile unit chief.
Sources at the time had said the top Facebook brass was seeking to co-develop a “Facebook-friendly” phone, among the ways the two firms could cement stronger ties.
“This time around, it’s probably not about the phone anymore, but any other project with which Facebook can manage to catch Samsung’s eye for a mobile partnerships because Facebook is desperate,” said one insider who declined to be identified.
Facebook has reportedly been facing a hoard of marketing problems, according to industry watchers, with advertising companies and firms pulling their ads after questioning the effect that Facebook has for their sales.
“We reached the conclusion that we don’t want to place ads anymore because we felt the users weren’t into them and therefore did not lead to sales. These users are in for the connection, not for the commerce,” said one executive at a company with close relations with Facebook.
The fact that Sandberg’s counterpart is Shim, Samsung’s chief marketing officer, adds plausibility to the forecasts of their one-on-one nature.
Others said for Facebook, there really is no other device or operating system maker it could approach, other than Samsung.
“The choices are pretty much laid out for Facebook. It’s either Google, Apple or Samsung, and Google is already quite chummy with Samsung, while Apple seems to be going downhill, so the last and most rational choice was Samsung,” said another industry watcher on the condition of anonymity.
Sandberg is expected to meet with other Samsung officials who are further involved in the marketing and implementation of a new relationship between the two entities, with the roster including co-chief executive officer Shin Jong-kyun, who holds the keys to whether Samsung can do anything with Facebook.
(
jemmie@heraldcorp.com)
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