@Safeway:You MUST Like This Page to Continue vs. Like @NissanEVs LEAF & Plant a Tree

In the last two days Safeway and Nissan have launched  unique Facebook landing pages that take different approaches to accomplish similar objectives. Playing off two very different motivations, both companies want your profile information and status updates in exchange for delivering a reward.  In this case, money or karma. Winning the award for the most aggressive approach is Safeway’s landing page promoting a $100 Memorial Day gift card giveaway. Considering the potential to generate a very high number of names, mailing addresses,  phone numbers, email addresses as well as Facebook, Twitter and blog  postings compared to the relatively low cost of the promotion itself: $500 total in gift cards, plus web consulting fees. I would expect more companies to follow suit. There is of course the added benefit that most people who enter the contest and “like” Safeway’s page will most likely stay fans of Safeway’s for the immediate future, thus giving Safeway additional opportunities to market their supermarkets. (Poorly Photoshopped text added.)

As for Nissan, instead of the chance to win a $100 gift card, in exchange for “liking” AutoNation / LEAF and selecting your choice of locations, you are rewarded with a Facebook status message informing the world that your slacktivism: “Just planted a tree in Brazil which will help re-develop the Atlantic Rainforest that has been depleted by sugar cane production.” Also very clever of AutoNation / Nissan to advertise on  the current live stream of TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference.  It will be very interesting to see which promotion is more successful. Are more Facebook users willing to give up a lot of personal information for a chance to win $100 vs. the certainty of planting a tree? Current stats are 74,695 fans for Safeway and 1,670 for AutoNation.

As for some cons, my only real complaints are with the Safeway promotion. First, it is not valid in Washington D.C. (As well as lots of other locations, some because of bugs in the app.)  Second, I think they could do better with the language. I don’t like Facebook telling me what I “must” do- even if it is for a contest I chose to enter.  Is a “please” too much to ask for? Third, it is worth noting that there are far more negative comments on the Safeway page, mostly relating to the restrictions on who can enter and the functionality of the application itself. As for Nissan, they get bonus points for not requiring your name / address, but I would have recommended they give people the option to submit their contact information for more information about purchasing the LEAF. (Although I wouldn’t be surprised if they automatically opted you in.)  A photo of your tree as planted would also be a neat idea.