• by Tanya Gazdik , October 13, 2011

Eastman Kodak Company is inviting consumers to print up to 20 free photos from their Facebook accounts at a Kodak Picture Kiosk.

The “Free Kodak Prints Week” promotion will run from Oct. 17-23. Consumers can print photos from their own Facebook albums, as well as their Facebook friends’ online photo albums.

By "liking" Kodak on Facebook during this time period and opting in to receive emails from Kodak in the future, Facebook users will be able to download a coupon to print the 4x6 instant prints.

The Rochester, N.Y.-based company will advertise online with placements on social networks like Facebook and Twitter in addition to other sites. Kodak also will send out emails to their consumer database.

The company’s retail partners are supporting the program with their own social media and email outreach to their customers. Retail partners participating in free prints week include CVS/pharmacy locations across North America, as well as select Bartell Drugs, Discount Drug Mart, Lewis Drugs and Ritz Camera locations.

The company expects sharing via social media to play a major role as consumers react to the promotion and try the Kodak Picture Kiosk in stores.

There are billions of photos stored on Facebook, and the promotion offers a way to convert these photos into personalized memories, says Larry Trevarthen, vice president of worldwide marketing, retail systems solutions, Eastman Kodak Company. In addition to the free photos, consumers will also be invited to use the kiosk to create Kodak photo books, greeting cards, calendars and other creative projects.

“Kodak was first-to-market with the ability to connect and print from Facebook in-store at a Kiosk and through ‘Free Kodak Prints Week’ we want to extend awareness of this powerful capability to tell stories to as many people as possible,” Trevarthen tells Marketing Daily. “We are excited to offer customers the opportunity to experience connecting and printing photos from their own Facebook albums and from their friends' Facebook albums to create more impactful memories.”

Kodak did a test program on a small scale with one retail partner earlier in the summer and had very positive feedback, so the company decided to take it to a national level.

As part of the promotion, Kodak also is partnering with the Tumblr Web site, My Parents Were Awesome, to host a contest. MPWA celebrates family history through photography by inviting users to submit vintage photos of their parents from their youth. Kodak will give a product prize package to one consumer who uploads a picture of their parents to My Parents Were Awesome between Oct. 17 and 23.