In November of 2010, Lowe’s, the nation’s second largest home improvement retailer, ran a day-after-Thanks giving Black Friday promotion using Facebook. Lowe’s picked out several items that were offered at incredibly low prices (typically 90% off). Then the heavily discounted merchandise was offered to Lowe’s’ Facebook fans and was limited to the first 100 consumers that checked out with the items at Lowes.com. Lowe’s believed that offering this new “giveaway” via Facebook would create a lot of buzz, which in turn would accelerate the growth of Lowe’s’ fans on Facebook. These Facebook fans, Lowe’s hoped, would not only stay in touch but would be more inclined to become loyal Lowe’s customers because the regular and continuous interaction with the home improvement retailer via Facebook would evolve into a real relationship between Lowe’s and its Facebook fans rather than just a retailer selling home improvement products to customers.
If you were the manufacturer of any of the items used in Lowe’s’ Facebook promotion, what might you be worried about with regard to Lowe’s’ Facebook promotional strategy? Do you think the worry is justified? Discuss.