PR News Q&A With Heineken USA’s Afdhel Aziz: The Sharability Factor of Facebook Contests

One of the main attractions of Facebook for brands is its natural adaptability for contests and promotions of all kinds. A fun, original contest goes to the very essence of Facebook—it is an audience builder and engagement engine wrapped in one. Afdhel Aziz, who leads the strategy and planning across Heineken USA's digital and social media channels, knows a thing or two about launching contests, and has the added advantage of working with a product that signifies real-world, pleasurable social activity. At PR News' Dec. 1 Facebook Conference in Washington, D.C., Aziz will be joining Lend Lease's Cindy Gersch on the panel "How to Expand Your Audience and Boost Your Brand With Contests and Promotions." He offers a short preview of his presentation in the following Q&A. PR News: What are Heineken USA’s business objectives for its Facebook initiatives? Afdhel Aziz: Heineken wants to find ways to be a part of the conversation with its consumers, and find unique ways of enriching them. Facebook is a great place to build a community of passionate fans and engage with them in new and innovative ways. PR News: How would you characterize buy-in from senior management for Heineken’s social networking activity? Aziz: Tremendously high. Everyone recognizes the value of social media at the highest levels and invests and supports it accordingly. PR News: What works and what doesn’t when launching contests, promotions and experiences on Facebook? Aziz: Making it "social by design" is the best option. First coming up with an interesting idea and then building sharability into it—something that makes people want to share it with their friends. What doesn't work is just translating mundane ideas into digital—they will still be mundane. PR News: Complete the following sentence. In two years, Facebook will be___ Aziz: Much more mobile-centric than it is today. PR News: What’s one Facebook tip you’ll offer attendees at PR News' Facebook Conference on Dec. 1? Aziz: Always find a way of adding value to the lives of your target audiences—otherwise you're just spamming them. Don't miss Heineken USA's Afdhel Aziz at PR News' Facebook Conference, which will be held at Washington, D.C.'s National Press Club on Dec 1.