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PHILIPPINES, JANUARY 14, 2011 – Cebu Pacific had everything going for Facebook success: it had the reach–nearly 90,000 likes on its Facebook page and 84,000 followers on Twitter. It fanned curiosity and excitement through these sites for the launch of its 15th anniversary promotion on Facebook, "Fly One, Fly All, Fly Free", on the afternoon of January 12, generating hundreds of "likes" for pre-launch promo updates.
The promo asks Facebook users to "like" the Cebu Pacific page and install the contest application. The user has to "create" a flight as host and get 149 friends to check in on the flight. The first to do this will win a free trip from Manily to any Cebu Pacific route with the 149 friends on March 8, 2011 and return from March 9 to 15.
But the hype worked too well.
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From Cebu Pacific’s update just over an hour into the launch, the app had 3,000 users in the game with over 300 flights created.
Bogged down by the number of users, the app was taken down and the servers are still being scaled up to accommodate more users as of this writing.
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Seeing an opportunity in its competitor’s downtime, Airphil Express launched its own Facebook promo,"Tag a Flight, Tag a Friend", eight hours after Cebu Pacific.
From its note on Facebook, the airline said: "Why waste your time forcing the entire barangay to join you on your trip when you can win round trip tickets for you and a friend! Yes, just you and a friend! You choose where to go. You decide who’s going with you! Joining is EASY!!!"
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Users have to "like" Airphil Express on Facebook, download the promo image, upload it to the wall of Airphil Express and tag the map with a friend for each destination, at least nine friends in total. Five winners will be chosen and will get to fly with the friend tagged on the destination. One winner will be announced on January 15, the four others on January 17.
Nearly 8,000 users tagged Airphil Express within 36 hours of the launch. But in its haste to get the promo off the ground, Airphil Express could have missed important points in Facebook’s promotions guidelines: promotions may only be administered through applications and entry by posting on a Wall or uploading a photo is disallowed.
So here are the social media marketing lessons of the week: formulate simple mechanics, anticipate heavy server load and make sure no user agreements are being broken on Facebook, or else it might go the way of Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s "Whopper Sacrifice" for Burger King–discontinued amid concerns from the social network. Facebook can be an exciting platform for promotions despite the limits to what can and cannot fly. However, with so many brands online, Facebook could easily miss an infraction and a campaign can take off on the wings of popular support.
