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Facebooks Developers Circles programme was facing stiff competition from Google Developer Group. In many markets, despite Facebook being seen as on a par with Google in terms of developer excellence, Dev C was seen as a less prestigious or active network than GDG. 

We had to recruit young, diverse developers and change that perception. 

The process started with us interviewing 40 developers around the world. This richness, combined with the wealth of data available from Facebook led us to find what budding developers from The Philippines to Cape Verde, Namibia to French Guyana (and everywhere in-between) held in common.

A thought that was put that at the heart of the campaign: Every developer want their city and community to be viewed as a global hub; and only Facebook could help them do that. 

Alongside this core insight sat a number of principles of how Dev C should behave in order to stand-out. Notably that the programme should feel like a grass roots programme supported by Facebook, rather than the top down teaching of GDG. 

We launched the campaign at World Economic Forum in Davos with an installation and series of films to encourage developers to get together and 'power up', just like video game characters.