PSA, a leading publisher of lifestyle magazine inserts for newspapers developed a room makeover contest for its flagship publication, "From House to Home". Available in over 100 newspapers, the contest was branded for each market with a "brought to you by" feature and a winner in each market as well as the overall national winner.

Entrants submitted a room in their home "most in need" of a makeover by the Christopher Lowell design team. Submitting three photos of the room and an essay on how the room is used, the design challenges or opportunities and the ambience/feel the entrant would like to create with the room.

Supporting its laptop peripherals of wireless mice to sound systems, docking stations and web cams, Logitech displays in thousands of retailers during the Back to School season grabbed the attention of the high school and college bound crowd. Immediacy of “winning on the spot” and an incredibly strong prize structure: thousands of 3-song music downloads bundles and laptop peripherals kept traffic strong for the six-week promotion. Music downloads were fulfilled instantly with a download code assigned to the winner and linkage to the Rhapsody site within seconds of naming a random player as a winner.

Simultaneous to the game, site visitors were encouraged to produce videos showing how laptop peripherals had “liberated their life”. The winner received an elaborate concert trip prize for 10 friends.

And ensuring success at all levels, retail sales associates weren’t forgotten: When an associate completed an on-line training modules at Logitech U, he/she got a chance to play the instant win game for a prize structure that mirrored the consumer offer, plus ten associates won Piaggio scooters.

SEGA tied in with the Kennedy Space Center to create awareness for its upcoming game release of “Planet 51: The Game”. Entry is simple and geared to drive registration for SEGA PASS. Individuals 13 and older simple register for the free SEGA PASS account (or login if they are already members), and enter with their account number and e-mail. Parents were required to enter for individuals under the age of 18.

Prizes included the family trip to the Kennedy Space Center for a day of simulated training with first prizes of copies of the game and Planet 51 swag.

Ubisoft, an international game developer, backed the release of a "My Word Coach", a Nintendo casual game, with an on-line "challenge". The promotional site featured 12 word games, which mirrored the actual video game play. Entrants provided their zip code, which assigned their score from the word games to their city -- and a real time scoreboard tracked the top ten leading cities over the 3-month promotion. Prizes included Nintendo Wiis and a Trip to Washington DC.

The promotion was launched with a live event in Times Square the weekend of the NYC Marathon and extensive PR efforts resulting in a number of leading daytime talk shows featuring the product and the promotion. The winning city? Fresno!

On the verge of a major IT systems conversion, GTE needed account holders to update crucial fields of information. The solution was an instant win game that rewarded account holders with a chance to win cash on the spot. Account holders updating on-line accessed a virtual rub-off game card; in branch customers received traditional rub-off game cards.

The promotion ran at over 30 branches and was supported with extensive in branch collateral, email blasts, and statement stuffers. A strong $50K cash prize structure with lots of daily winners and an employee incentive program were key to the success.

Displays in 1,800 Sunglass Hut retail locations in the US and Canada lured shoppers with a chance to win a deluxe vacation in Maui. Running in the height of the season for shades, the July promotion had strong trade support from Maui Jim Sunglasses: The Grand Prize sported a 7 day trip to Maui, accommodations at the Sheraton and an action packed activity package.

Promotion offered on-line entry as well as in-store entry displays.

Atom Entertainment, a major on-line music and film entertainment site, reinforced its product content of independent breakthrough films and increased its ad package value to a core client/advertiser, Intel. Film-makers submitted productions based on a their interpretation of the "magic wand" theme.

Contest criteria were tightly defined with all acceptable formats being submitted in electronic mail able formats. A judging panel comprised of industry experts including staff from Shockwave reviewed entries on the criteria of creativity, entertainment and production technique and value. Contest winners were announced and winning films screened at Intel sponsored event at the Sundance Film Festival.

Teaming up with a key advertiser, Hachette Book Group to promote the James Patterson Maximum Ride book series, AddictingGames launched an on-line competition targeting middle and high school students across the country. Each week students were encouraged to “cast a vote” for their school on-line – as well as getting other students and parents “on board” to support their school.

The top vote getting school each week won 100 copies of one of the Maximum Ride books for their use. The overall winning school additionally won a place in literary history: The school was written into the next book in the Maximum Ride series as a location/setting. for four weeks. Extensive site advertising and e-mail launches to the AddictingGames subscriber base supported the promotion.

Hollywood Tans, the largest tanning franchise with over 500 salons appealed to its image conscious 18-30 year old customer base with a promotion touting sizzling imagery of their spokesperson, a professional model & franchisee holder and a luxury car prize awarded every month.

The offer goes to the issue of churn: For every tanning session a client uses they get an automatic entry…the more you tan (& get the most of your membership), the better the chances of winning. Smart PR work includes a fast turn winner's photo-shoot each month ensuring the next month's Point of Sale kits feature the each new winner. Twenty-five iPods are also awarded each month and the growing list of winner’s names is visible in the salons. Promotion is supported with billboard, radio, web, & extensive salon collateral.

Launching an exclusive Candies clothing line Kohl’s wanted to dial up its presence and affiliation with the young adult audience. Atom Entertainment’s heavily trafficked site provided the perfect match for exposure.

An 8-week promotion challenged young filmmakers to submit their production on the topic of "generation transformation". Entries were judged against criteria to arrive at 10 semi-finalists. Semi-finalists productions were then available at the Atom site for a site-user voting period to determine the Grand Prize winner. The Grand Prize winner receives a stint as a working intern on the production set of Warner Bros. Television Studios, One Tree Hill. Secondary prizes includes autographed skate decks, Candies autographed memorabilia and Kohl’s Gift Cards.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is one of the leading voice recognition software packages available and benefits from a very loyal and enthusiastic user base. Driving retail sales and leveraging the loyalty of its users, this campaign was “closed” and offered only to existing customers of Dragon.

Adding real content to the viral campaign, the solicitation e-mail to customers encouraged existing customers to describe how they felt about the software and then send their “gifting suggestion” off to five friends or associates who they felt could really benefit from the software. For every referral provided, existing customers received additional entries. Both solicitation e-mails and referral e-mails included special pricing offers available only within the promotion and active links to encourage “get your shopping done now”!

Taylor Morrison builds homes in communities in CO, AZ, FL and TX and supports its sales centers with a recurring annual promotion that delivers big with awareness, traffic, and leads. Offering multiple ways to enter and the ability to generate up to 150 entries via any method, consumers can enter on-line multiple times, by mail …or rack up multiple entries by scheduling and completing an appointment at any sales center’s development.

The single Grand Prize really is a “life changer” for winners: A Taylor Morrison Home up to $200,000 in any one of their 4-state area developments and a Family Vacation to one of the Disney properties.

City Search, an on-line access directory for metropolitan markets increased the value of its advertising package with a traffic building sweepstakes for a key client, Toyota.

Geared to increase the visibility of Toyota’s banner ads on the Citysearch site, and deliver a qualified database for regional dealerships, the promotion ran for a 4-week period and featured a single attention grabbing prize: $5,000 in FREE GASOLINE.

One of the oldest brands in America began its 2nd century with the launch of an engaging and interactive website and a series of 12 monthly "special memories" themed sweepstakes. The promotion was supported with special promotional packaging on all SKUs for the entire year, as well as store POP and a recurring FSI schedule.

All efforts drive shoppers to the site to register and then return month over month to participate in a range of activities – each activity earning additional earn a sweepstakes entry for the 12 monthly sweepstakes: Download a recipe and get an entry, email one to a friend and get two entries, click on a "sweet trivia" for an entry, take a survey, upload a recipe.

Getting the word out on one of its limited availability blends, Peet’s coffee used daily drawings to awards hundreds of winners each day with a free bag of Uzuri coffee. Retail displays, Facebook awareness and a viral referral feature for additional entries kept entry level high for the month long promotion.

TurnHere produces and hosts website video solutions for small to mid-size businesses across the country. The sweepstakes was open only to small to mid size business owners and/or their employees and ran for four weeks.

Each week 100 companies won a free video production for their companies website and one company won a video production and a $1,000 gift card from the retailer of their choice: FedEx Office, Staples, Costco or Best Buy. The promotion was driven primarily with targeted list buys for small businesses and associated e-mail launches.

Using a social media venue to create awareness, Taylor Morrison ran a 10-week video contest encouraging entrants to submit a brief video on its YouTube channel, which captures the essence of what a home means.

Entries are screened and available for public viewing and each week, a judging panel selects that week’s semi-finalist.

In the final one-week voting period, users cast votes to determine the top entry … who will receive the equivalent of a year’s mortgage payments … a check for $18,000. Local sales centers are encouraged to display entrant’s video submissions from their areas and to create as much local PR associated with entrants from their communities.

Litehouse Foods produces a wide range of sauces, dressing and dipping products. The caramel dipping sauces are targeting at Moms and kids and merchandised with seasonal displays in the fresh produce/fruit section.

To increase display prominence Litehouse leveraged the home video release of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa™. Displays with playful animated graphics in over one thousand grocery retailers in the United States and Canada drove traffic to the promotional website.

Prizes included a Home Gaming Systems, iPod nanos and the Madagascar DVD double pack from DreamWorks studios.

Brightstorm is an on-line education provider specializing in prep courses for high school junior and seniors gearing up for the SAT or ACT.

The promotion used a single compelling prize to grab parents’ attention and motivate the course purchase. Any student completing one of the on-line courses received an automatic entry with extra entries awarded for individuals who completed and then referred the course to friends.

Promotion was supported with on-line ad buys, targeted e-mail blasts and press releases reaching the school systems, teacher and educators across the country.

With the objective of developing an email database and a "stand out from the crowd" message, Panda Express featured the on-line sweepstakes in all locations with tray liners, shelf talkers, and window signage. Panda Express is the largest quick serve restaurant in the Asian segment with over 800 locations in 46 states. An off-line entry method was available as well.

The Grand Prize was a top of the line trip for two to China, which featured a "chef", prepared authentic cuisine evening, catered, literally on the Great Wall.

T-Bones and Cactus Jack's, a NH restaurant chain "reined in" its popular loyalty program with an annual promotion. "Paybacks", awards customers a $10 voucher for every $100 spent. Like many successful & mature loyalty programs, the challenge is maintaining the program while reducing the liability of un-used gift card and loyalty point balances.

"Let’s Trade a Meal," offered customers a fun and exciting alternate to use the $10 vouchers for chances to win prizes and help a local charity, the New Hampshire Food Bank.

Customers redeemed a $10 voucher for 10 entries in the Sweepstakes, and the Sponsor in turn donated $2.50 to the NH Food Bank for each voucher redeemed in the sweepstakes.

A major trade-out with local businesses afforded great prizes like a $30,000 Volvo, a $20,000 kitchen makeover and a $10,000 Home Theater. The promotion was supported with extensive restaurant collateral, billboard, radio and television.

A major NE insurance company used this promotion to awareness and generate "survey qualified" contacts for its network of company and independent sales representatives. The on-line sweepstakes used a 5-question survey to determine current insurance needs and a refer-a-friend feature rewarded entrants with additional chances to win.

The promotion was backed with an extensive collateral package for the representative offices including direct mail inserts, office displays and fliers.

Exciting Windows provides in-home design and installation of window treatments via its national network of franchisees.

Leveraging its affiliation with HGTV designer Michael Payne, an on-line sweepstakes open only to existing homeowners, offered the chance to win $10,000 in window treatment with a design consultation by Michael Payne.

Extensive collateral material kits were provided to the franchisees encouraging broad distribution of materials in their respective market areas: Door hangers, self-mailers, flyers, showroom displays and newspaper print ads.

The promotion had the single largest "buy in" participation rate from franchisees in the history of the company and generated "opt in" qualified leads from "day one" of the promotion.

A recurring and annual AAA promotion to support for its roadside battery service & sales was enhanced for the first time with an on-line entry method in the "It’s Great to Belong! Spring sweepstakes.

A communication challenge facing many AAA clubs is the "missing email address" in their members profile and the promotion made major inroads on this objective. Five survey questions to gage degree of familiarity members have with the roadside battery service & sales were included in the registration form, yielding some surprising feedback used to re-shape upcoming marketing initiatives.

The promotion receives heavy exposure with print ads running in all club magazines, direct mail and branch displays. A strong prize structure supported by AAA partners Sheraton, Ford, NASCAR and Continental airlines included cars, get-aways to NYC and NASCAR trips.

AES, a financial counseling organization for college students, launched the $20,000 Lighten Your Loan Sweepstakes. Functionally the on-line sweepstakes ran exactly as it had in an earlier time frame, but this time with a bigger incentive package and new creative.

College students could enter once each day during the 8-week promotion and with each entry they could refer the sweepstakes to up to ten friends. The promotion delivered a strong 14% "build" to the opt-in database directly attributed to the viral feature.
The prizes included varying amounts, up to $10,000, which winners could apply to their outstanding student loan

JIBJAB, an irreverent and edgy entertainment site keeps its subscriber base growing and traffic count high by continually adding new content. The "JokeBox" is a section of the site where subscribers submit jokes and anecdotes for review, comment and interaction with other JIBJAB subscribers. (AKA: JibJabbers).

To launch "JokeBox", JIBJAB used a daily sweepstakes geared to create daily site visits and interaction with the JokeBox feature. With each joke submitted to his/her JokeBox, the JibJabber received an entry for that day’s drawing. Feedback feature posted the photo of the daily winners and their joke. Each day, for 50 days, a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate was awarded.

In the competitive fresh package salad category, River Ranch has found a tool with a series of attention grabbing promotions. The method of entry is always the same and underscores the partnership with Giant Eagle – make a purchase of the River Ranch product using the Giant Eagle Advantage card. A free, by mail entry is also available for Giant Eagle shoppers.
The promotions are strong with upwards of $30,000 in incentives and are supported with danglers, shelf talkers. Success of the format is apparent with recurring use. Building creative equity, the promotion has run as "Lettuce Cook for You" (personal chef prizes) and Lettuce Take you Back to School (computers) and "Lettuce Shop for You" (shopping sprees and gift cards).

Digital River, a leading software publisher, launched a six-month, high flying sweepstakes to encourage sales from its core, active Affiliate base, stimulate new Affiliate registration and re-activate current Affiliates who hadn’t generated sales in 3 or more months. Varying numbers of entries were earned for different sales activities with bonus entries available when hitting key benchmarks.

Each month 20 Affiliates won an xBox 360 and a $50 Best Buy card with a final drawing to award the Grand Prize: A 4-week "around the world" expedition on a private jet! The winning associate could choose the expedition or a cash option of $85,000.

Fresh Produce, designer and manufacturer of "beach inspired" casual wear for women celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a summer sweepstakes. The line had placement in Nordstrom's 93 stores, and 12 Fresh Produce branded stores in major resort markets.

Stella® Scooters, a tie-in to the promotion, provided custom painted bikes for the top-level prizes- the were used for displays in Nordstrom flagship stores.

Running for 5 weeks, the promotion was geared to attract attention to the FP line, reinforce the playful, spirited personality of the brand and generate promotionally qualified names for the house catalog list.

AtomShockwave, the leading provider of on-line music and video entertainment, used a music video contest to hone in on the interests of a core group of customers.

Five alternative rock bands featured free downloadable songs at Shockwave site for an 8-week period. Contest entrants could select any one of the songs on which to develop and produce a 5-minute music video.

Contest criteria were tightly defined with acceptable entries submitted in electronic mail able formats. A judging panel comprised of industry experts including staff from Shockwave reviewed entries on the criteria of and value creativity, entertainment and production technique.

ICEOLOGY, a leading market research firm for the automotive industry, uses on-line surveys to gather preference/trend data. The 150-question surveys take 45 minutes and the request to participate is extended via email to recent Subaru buyers.

The "What Drives You?" Sweepstakes significantly improved the completion rate and the speed at which consumers responded to the survey. By completing the survey, consumers got one entry for a chance to win their choice of 5 different lifestyle prizes from Fly Fishing to Kayaks, Bikes, or Driving Schools. Consumers could get two entries if they completed the survey within 48 hours of the email.

This international chemicals firm launched a B-to-B promotion to generate sales of its Demon Termite Control product line. Running during peak season, licensed pest control professionals (PCP's) received an entry for every gallon of Demon pesticide purchased. PCPs submitted invoices with an Official Entry Form available at distributors or via web download.

The promotion was launched with POP kits for the distributor network and trade ads. To keep visibility high, mailings, which included a "Hit the Road" car atlas, and similar themed incentives, were used throughout the promotion.

Guitar Center: Sales Associate Incentive Poker Game

Guitar Center, a major musical instrument retailer, used a sales associate promotion to increase sales of their warranty, the "Performance Guarantee.

With a predominantly young, male sales staff, the game was designed to look, feel and play like Poker.

For every warranty sold an associate received a card. Some cards were instant cash/apparel winners, but the majority are playing card faces.

Associates "held" their cards and assembled their best 5-card poker hand. Competition at store and corporate level was encouraged with tracking posters and a website where stores posted their "best hand" to date. Seven finalists and their manager’s played a real poker game at an offsite event for the top prize of $5,000 and new Scion!

It's all about the guacamole! The California Avocado Commission maximized exposure with an on-line sweepstakes for the three week, prime buying season preceding May 5. The promotion was marketed extensively with email and radio.

Entrants gave ideas on the "best ways to celebrate Cinco" and viral marketing awarded additional entries for referrals and fan club sign-ups. Every day site content changed with new recipes, the best party ideas submitted by entrants as well as avocado handling/storage tips.

Daily winners were selected to win a Cinco Gift Basket that included party amenities and avocados. Winner were contacted and confirmed the same day and names were posted at the site each day to keep involvement high.

Syngenta®, introduced IMPASSE, a product used in the construction phase to "termite proofs" a home for life. Driving traffic to demonstrations at the International Home Builders Show was key in getting the product launched in time for the high season for home construction.

The promotion was initiated with a 2-month pre-show mailing schedule using the focal point of the Hummer Giveaway at the show. Copy compared the impervious image of the Hummer with the IMPASSE features/benefits.

The promotion was open only to licensed residential builders and builders were entered when they participated in an A-V demonstration at the IMPASSE booth.

Clayton, a national homebuilder with 300 sales preview centers used an instant win game promotion to stimulate model previews and home sales during a fall period.

Customers, who completed a brief financial qualification form, received a game card. The card gave the potential buyer an amount to be deducted from the price of their home, if closed before November 30. Discounts amounts ranged from $250 to $10,000.

A sales staff incentive was also used to stimulate further activity, with an award of a $250 Lowes Gift Card for every sale closed in the promotional period.

This international technology company used an on-line sweepstakes to prompt prospects to take an on-line software demonstration. This trade promotion was targeted at Professional Engineers in purchase recommendation positions for major corporations. Awareness for the offer was built with heavy trade publication ads and email launches.

Every professional engineer who completed the on-line demo was entered for the BMW Z3. The reach was further expanded by a 5-person "refer this demo to an associate" feature. Entrants could earn up to 5 additional entries for associates they referred who completed the demo.

The 4-month promotion was available in European Union, Canadian and US markets and successfully generated the greatest number of demo qualified sales leads the company had experienced on a new product launch.

MyBart is the Bay Area Rapid Transits email affiliation club. Each week registrants receive content laden emails describing arts, entertainment, restaurants and events happening in the city for the upcoming weekend. In general a great way to keep "taking the train" top of mind not only for work day commuting but for weekend excursions.

To encourage sign-up and list retention, a weekly (Friday) sweepstakes awards tickets to hot events, VIP invitations, galleries and restaurant openings. Execution is kept simple with email winner notifications and prize certificates available at "will call" for the selected winners.

Fluke, a leader in diagnostic test equipment launched a 6-month "virtual product demo" promotion.

A realistic demo, providing a "hands on" feel for five of Flukes key meters, was the core of the promotion. Targeted at professional electricians and corporate buyers, multiple demo's (and entries) were encouraged: The more involved a potential buyer becomes, the closer to making the purchase.

Appealing to the male audience, the classic "guys" prize of a name brand flat screen TV was the focal point for all collateral. Support included trade ads, affiliate emails distributor displays and an employee contest.

An off-line entry made use of an informational brochure and Q&A about product features. This is the 2nd year for this format with strong results in product awareness and database growth.

Express, a leading staffing firm with our 400 offices leveraged its NASCAR car & driver sponsorship with its annual employee retention promotion. All franchised offices were supported with the 3-month promotion complete with instant win game cards, paycheck stuffers, posters and full size car & driver entry displays.

The annual promotion is pre-announced to franchisees at their spring tradeshow and the promotion rolls out during the key demand months for temporary staffing.

Associates get a game card with each weekly paycheck during the 3-month event. Instant gratification prizes include on-the-spot cash, scale cars, racing caps and custom racing mouse pads.

An overall sweepstakes caps the event with "Get-Away" trip prizes to Richard Petty Driving Schools throughout the country.