Bowe's Blog » fan bribe http://www.ericbowe.com ... viewing marketing through a consumer lens. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:05:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 When a Free Facebook Taco is a Little Loco http://www.ericbowe.com/2010/05/when-a-free-facebook-taco-is-a-little-loco/ http://www.ericbowe.com/2010/05/when-a-free-facebook-taco-is-a-little-loco/#comments Sat, 15 May 2010 12:20:45 +0000 Eric Bowe http://www.ericbowe.com/?p=549 del_taco_free_facebook_tacoFan bribes keep trickling in.  Some have no strings attached, others you need to act quickly to get in on the limited bribe supply, and a few bribes, like Del Taco, are out of order.

I received an email today inviting me to try a new crispy chicken taco via facebook.  However, getting the coupon seems to be a little loco (their words, not mine). 

In reviewing Del Taco’s facebook presence, you can see they are trying hard to build their fanbase (currently at 96,300 fans) and engage them too.   Del Taco has created many facebook elements including a webisode (The Del Taco Special Show with Wes & Barry).

Unfortunately for Del Taco the facebook banter the past several days is more about the missing coupon then anything else.  To their credit the facebook admin is highly apologetic about the SNAFU.

As I reviewed in a past entry (Can I bribe you to be my brand fan?), coupons can be an immediate draw, but are brands truly attracting brand fans or the coupon fringe?

]]> http://www.ericbowe.com/2010/05/when-a-free-facebook-taco-is-a-little-loco/feed/ 0 Can I bribe you to be my brand fan? http://www.ericbowe.com/2010/03/can-i-bribe-you-to-be-my-brand-fan/ http://www.ericbowe.com/2010/03/can-i-bribe-you-to-be-my-brand-fan/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:07:09 +0000 Eric Bowe http://www.ericbowe.com/?p=399 nabisco_facebook_promotionOn the first Monday of March I received an email from Nabisco.  The email was an invitation to become a fan of Nabisco Cookies on facebook.   Actually it was more than an invitation — it was a fan bribe.  Nabisco is offering free cookies, sort of, if I become a fan.   The email made me wonder how well bribes work.  Secondly, if someone does join based on a bribe, how much of a fan of the brand are they?

Nabisco is not the first (nor last) brand to incentivize people to join their fan page.  Different brand stimuli have been used by Outback, Babies’R'Us, and Sears just to name a few.  Outback offered a free Bloomin’ Onion, while Babies’R'Us gave fans a $5 gift card.  Sears like Nabisco offers coupons to new fans.

Nabisco’s offer is not really free (note the asterisk).  The deal is fans can download a coupon on the first Monday of every month (limit 500,000 coupons per month) throughout 2010.  The coupon is good for a free package of Chips Ahoy when you purchase one package of Chips Ahoy and a gallon of milk.

So, do incentives work to build fan bases?  Sure.  More the promise of saving money will motivate some people to fan a page.  Nabisco has a healthy 262,000 fan base on their facebook page.  My guess is the fan base will probably grow throughout 2010, especially if they continue to promote “free cookies”.

 The second question is what type of  fan does a brand attract with incentives?  I don’t know how many fans of the Nabisco Cookies page came for love of brand or love of free cookies.  However, there is some insight by reviewing the page content.  In reviewing the past 24 hours there was over 30 postings.  Fan postings are primarily shout outs to their love of cookies.

  • J Blair: we love cookies Yesterday at 4:57pm
  • L Goodman: we are all cookie monster in this house:)Yesterday at 4:56pm
  • V Coffey: MMMMMMMM COOKIES!!!! Me love cookies!! :) Yesterday at 4:38pm
  • A Orr: Nabisco cookies and milk?! hummmmmmmm Yesterday at 3:13pm

Not every post was for the love of cookies.  There was some banter about the coupon promotion.   On the discussion page there seems to be a little angst around the use of the coupon.

  • J. Mowen: Went to the store this morning and tried to use my coupon. I admit I should have read the date ahead, but what kind of coupon is only good for three days!!!! Leave it to a huge corporation like this to put such great limitations on the deal!  (Yesterday at 10:13am)
  • J. Moore:no stupid coupon nabisco you suck (March 8 at 1:21pm)
  • B. Dyer: NO COUPON.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH NABISCO? MUST BE RUN BY A MALE (Tue at 6:07pm)
  •  
    D. Cooley:We have two major grocery chains in St. Louis/St. Charles Missouri. They both rejected my coupon because they SAY, it is not posted in the stores, that they reject all internet coupons for free items or even cents off! I talked with the store managers and they say they were not told by Nabisco they were having a promotion, and they would not accept a free item internet coupon!!! Thanks for a good idea, but it turned out to be useless to me!  (March 1 at 6:21pm) 
For some fans they are more a fan of the coupon than for the brand, which is not a surprise.  As the coupons wane over time or if Nabisco does not fix the glitches in the promotion, these fans will lie passive or de-fan the brand.  
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