Facebook creates pop-up store in HK to educate consumers on personalisation

Facebook has opened doors to its first pop-up store in Hong Kong to educate consumers on how to personalise their Facebook experience and unlock exciting possibilities while maintaining their online privacy and safety. From December 3 to 7, Preface Coffee & Wine in Central, the F&B and lifestyle concept space, will be transformed into a temporary “Facebook home” to showcase the true benefits of technology and demonstrate the different ways users can personalize their Facebook – the way they want it – through digital experience and AR filters.

Inspired by the way people customise their homes, Facebook last week launched “Your Profile, Your  Home” a digital consumer experience to educate people on Facebook settings that enable personalisation, and to reinforce Facebook’s commitment to protecting the privacy and safety of users.

Along with Preface Coding, Facebook has transformed Preface Coffee & Wine (Central) into a pop-up store that showcases the app’s privacy control and settings. With the tagline “What makes a perfect home?”, the pop-up store is set to be the newest Instagrammable spot in Central. Renowned local celebrity Alfred Hui attended the kick-off event to demonstrate the customisable settings.

From December 3 to 7, anyone can visit the “Your Profile, Your Home” pop-up store and play with two fun and interactive AR filters developed by Preface Coding, including photo-taking with an avatar of Alfred Hui. Visitors can also immerse themselves in the “Your Profile, Your Home” digital experience, in which they’ll have tools to build and design their very own home as they explore the exciting possibilities of personalization on Facebook. Visitors can test their knowledge of Facebook’s new privacy settings with an on-site quiz; the first 10 winners of each day will receive Alfred Hui’s autographed gift.

In November, Meta, also formerly known as Facebook said it plans to remove its detailed targeting options from January 2022 onwards. With this move, advertisers will not be able to target users who have interacted with content related to health causes, sexual orientation, religious practices, political beliefs and social issues, among others. 

While this move limits the way Meta's targeting tools can be abused, VP of product marketing, Graham Mudd said the company is aware that this change may negatively impact some businesses and organisations. "We have heard concerns from experts that targeting options such as these could be used in ways that lead to negative experiences for people in underrepresented groups," he explained. He added, "It is important to note that the interest targeting options we are removing are not based on people’s physical characteristics or personal attributes, but instead on things like people’s interactions with content on our platform."

According to Mudd, this decision was not simple and required a balance of competing interests where there was advocacy in both directions. While some of Meta's advertising partners have expressed concerns about these targeting options going away because of its ability to help generate positive societal change, others understand the decision to remove them. He added, "Even after we update our targeting options, people may still see ad content they aren’t interested in, which is why we are also working to expand the control that allows people to choose to see fewer ads about certain types of content. Today, people can opt to see fewer ads related to politics, parenting, alcohol, and pets. Early next year, we will be giving people control of more types of ad content, including gambling and weight loss, among others."

Meanwhile, Meta said it will maintain its commitment to helping small businesses, non-profits, and advocacy groups reach their audiences. Meta will be working to expand the control that allows users to choose to see fewer ads about certain types of content, said Mudd. Today, users are able to opt to see fewer ads related to topics such as politics, parenting, alcohol and pets. Early next year, Meta aims to give users control on more types ad content which includes gambling and weight-loss, among others.