Legal
The Horror Of It All
By Fae Savignano, EVP, Marden-Kane Digital Promotions – October 17, 2018 Every now and then everyone can appreciate a good horror story; but when it comes to promotions…there is no such thing as a Good Horror Story and Never Ever is when marketers want them to occur. “They know what you did last summer!” Promotions are heavily regulated by Government Agencies (FTC, FCC, FDA, and State’s AGs); Self-Regulatory Bodies (NAD, DAA, CARU, DMA); Competitors and Consumers alike. Everyone is watching, so take heed of the promotion guidelines available to avoid the nightmares that can unfold. You can find the complete … Continue reading
Contest Laws by State
Before you run a promotion in the United States, you might want to check sweepstakes or contest laws by state. Some states have more vigorous laws regulating sweepstakes and contests and you can’t claim you didn’t know what you didn’t know after the fact – there may be big fines for non-compliance. Here is a sampling of states that have strict laws regarding promotions: Florida: In Florida you must register and bond any sweepstakes where a cumulative total of prizes is over $5,000 and the winners are determined by chance in a random drawing. This must be done at … Continue reading
Taming Your #Sweeps with an Approved Instagram Tracker
Once upon a time, Instagram had no need for an Instagram tracker to gather your promotion entries. People did whatever they wanted because there were no promotion guidelines. It was like the wild, wild west in promotion land: no rules applied. Brands did whatever they wanted. Hashtags were untamed and unfiltered, and people wildly tagged anyone and everyone in their posts for fun. Until the law came to town to clean Instagram up. #TheresANewSheriffInTown Instagram quietly formalized their promotion guidelines and their process for allowing you to search and gather posts by hashtag over the past few years. Here is … Continue reading
10 Questions to Ask Before Partnering with a Promotion Agency
A contest, sweepstakes, instant win game or other promotion concept may be a great way for your client to increase sales and build their branding efforts, but if you have never done a promotion before don’t try to do it alone. You will need an experienced, knowledgeable promotion marketing agency to partner with you to make sure you run a legal, compliant, successful promotion. But what should you look for when partnering with a promotion agency? Here are ten questions you should be asking before you select a promotion agency to partner with for your next contest or sweepstakes: How well … Continue reading
Can the Official Rules Be Changed After the Promotion Has Started?
Fae Savignano, EVP, wrote this post dealing with a questions we often get from our clients: Can the Official Rules be changed after the promotion has started? All promotions, such as contests, sweepstakes, instant win games, etc. must have an appropriate set of Official Rules that will govern the promotion. These “Official Rules” are referred to as the contract between the sponsor of the promotion and the entrant. And to further qualify this statement, as each entrant enters the promotion they are asked to accept the Official Rules and therefore agree to be bound by them. The rules will clearly … Continue reading
Why Asking Questions as Part of a Qualified Entry Sweepstakes is a Good Idea
Fae Savignano, our own EVP, explains what a qualified entry sweepstakes is, and why they could be a great part of your next brand promotion. A sweepstakes entrant may ask…Why do I need to respond to all of these extra questions just to enter a sweepstakes? Are they really required? Don’t they just need my name or email to process my entry? A sweepstakes sponsor may ask…Is it a good idea to ask a few brand related questions? Will I get fewer entries by making the entry process longer? Would this constitute non-monetary consideration? These are all great questions … Continue reading
A Message to Our Clients About GDPR Compliance
UPDATED MAY 25, 2018 On May 25, 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect. Although the regulation is coming out of the European Union (EU), it has implications worldwide. This regulation replaced the 1995 Data Protection Directive and is intended to protect individuals’ right to privacy. This regulation impacts your business if you collect, process, or store information regarding residents of the European Union – and this includes residents even if they are outside the EU. Marden-Kane’s core focus is the administration and management of sweepstakes, contests and instant win game promotions both domestically and internationally. We understand … Continue reading
Promotional Marketing Predictions for 2018
It’s time to see how we fared on our promotional marketing predictions for 2017, and to make our 2018 predictions. For 2017 here is what we predicted for promotional marketing: 1. Social sweepstakes and contests will become the primary method of entry over online web forms. Results: In 2017 we did almost the same number of social sweepstakes and contests as we did traditional web-based sweepstakes and contests. In 2016 we did less than a third the amount of social versus traditional. Social contests and sweepstakes are a cost effective, fast to market alternative that companies on a budget … Continue reading
The Marden-Kane Most Read Posts of 2017
Here is a list of our top 2017 posts according to the following categories: GOOD TO KNOW: Criteria for Judging a Video Contest Marden-Kane has provided you with information about “Good Criteria for Judging a Contest” and a follow-up article on “Criteria for Judging a Photo Contest”, well what about Video Contests? Read more… What is a Surprise & Delight? A Surprise and Delight is a marketing tactic similar to a sweepstakes or contest, where gifts are given away to fans, but instead of a posted entry period with rules and a set prize, the giveaway itself is completely unannounced … Continue reading
Official Rules vs. Terms and Conditions: A Guide to Help You Choose Correctly!
EVP Fae Savignano contributed this post on Official Rules vs Terms and Conditions. Promotional Marketing can be a key element in promoting your brand, product and/or service through various forms of on and off line publicity and advertising tactics. When executed properly, promotions can increase sales, brand awareness and consumer engagement. All of which are positive reinforcements why promotions are still and will always be a relevant marketing tool. The word “Promotion” has many aliases such as sweepstakes, instant win games, contests, giveaways, reward and loyalty programs, discount and premium offers, point-of-sale and merchandising limited offers, special BOGO offers, … Continue reading
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Recent Articles
- Top 5 Marketing Posts 2018
- The Horror Of It All
- Trick or Treat with These Halloween Contest Ideas
- A Tribute to Rosemary
- Contest Laws by State
