Brands Celebrating Fan Milestones

Brands are getting involved with Facebook, from the use of “Pages” in order to gain “likes” and feedback on their posts from fellow users and fans of the brand’s facebook page. It appears to be a typical tradition now for brands to get more in touch with their fans by celebrating fan milestones. For example, Old Navy recently gave out a “human coupon” concept, which is a “giant 120-by-60-foot coupon, shot from the sky, comprised of several hundred humans, props, text and a bar code made of 88 placards.” The 30-percent discount coupon was rewarded due to Old Navy reaching 5 million fans on Facebook. Check out the video here:

Pretty cool, if you ask me. It seems like this concept of interacting with consumers through celebrating their support on Facebook has not only been used by Old Navy. Once Cadbury reached 1 million UK fans on Facebook, the company built a giant “Facebook-style thumbs up” pose out of 1 million of its chocolate bars, while sharing live updates over two days on its Facebook fan page.

In addition, Verizon also celebrated its 3 million Facebook fans by developing a video thanking its fans that features a Rube Goldberg machine. The Rude Goldberg machine features a number of unnecessary and complicated series of steps in order to accomplish a very simple task. By the end of the video, a tablet is switched on and displays a “thank you” message to its supportive fans.

After watching these different attempts at celebrating Facebook fans and developing a milestone, I’ve considered a couple advantages:

1. Creative and Share-Worthy: Social media networks are a way for users to not only display their own personal broadcasts to their friends, but also share interesting or relevant stories that they think will appeal to their friends or followers. A unique and creative campaign can help develop the brand’s exposure to others. Fans have the option to share it and present something memorable to their audience.
2. Developing a Personality and Telling its “Story”: Developing marketing initiatives, such as these, can assist in providing that deeper level of connection between the brand and its user. As what was mentioned in class, having that “personality” that can speak to your consumers can make a huge difference on how they perceive your brand. Celebrating a fan milestone allows users to feel appreciated and creates a community of the million of users and the brand.
3. Gaining New Fans and Referrals: Sharing a coupon is a great way to send the love to their fans. Sharing is caring, right? A good deal is meant to be shared with their friends. Whether you’re gaining off a friend’s referral or double glancing at a Facebook share because it catches your eye, the brand may have a greater penetration in being exposed electronically more so than it would appeal to you on a conventional giant billboard. In this century, the size of the advertisement doesn’t necessarily equate to greater exposure.

Overall, these Facebook fan milestones are now being celebrated as if sales results have been reached. These real-life marketing tactics are a great way to engage with their audience and show them a part of the company’s story.