Facebook ‘Likes’ are Worth a Thousand Words, Literally

Have you ever ‘liked’ something on Facebook? Whether its a picture, status, product or service, ‘liking’ is a simple way to show an interest in something. As a generation saturated in social networking, we may take a lot of small things like Facebook’s ‘like’ application for granted, not thinking of its true potential, especially in creating awareness. Recently, Porsche became the quickest automaker to reach 1,000,000 fans on Facebook. How did they celebrate this social media achievement? Porsche printed the names of 27,000 fans who ‘liked’ their Facebook corporate fan page onto the body of their new hybrid 911 GT3 R racecar as a thank you to their million fans who made their social network success possible. The names were chosen at random from their fans and set to a Facebook-themed design with navy blue and white accents.

I don’t know about you but I can’t think of a better way to show fan appreciation than adorning their names on a car worth well over $250,000. From a public relations standpoint, Porsche’s use of social networking to gain publicity is a great initiative for them and other companies to start adopting. Porsche even created a separate “thank you” campaign and website for their fans to see the process of the car’s creation and search for their name on the car. Not only does this campaign portray the luxury automaker as a friendly and fan-loyal company, it brings awareness to the auto industry’s current eco-friendly car trend. By combining their fan loyalty with the popularity of hybrid vehicles, Porsche gets publicity, awareness, record setting and novelty points for releasing news in an unorthodox manner. For a company like Porsche, social responsibility to the environment and social interaction with their consumers and fans are connected. Porsche’s use of Facebook is an example of how the use of social networks can create more than just a digital and perceived connection between corporations and consumers but also a literal one.

What do you think about Porsche’s social network idea? Do you know any other companies that have used social media to connect with their fans in a creative way?

Become a fan of Porsche at http://www.facebook.com/porsche and check out their “A Million Thanks” campaign at: www.porsche.com/thankyou.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Jessica Lopez.