Prizes
What is a Surprise and 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 and random. What can be tricky about a Surprise and Delight is that if you aren’t very careful you may actually be running a sweepstakes which would require official rules, possible registration and bonding and whole set of legal hoops to jump through. For a true Surprise and Delight no one can know it is coming. 5 Surprise and … Continue reading
Tips for First Time Sweepstakes Success
Is your company thinking of running a sweepstakes or contest for the first time? Here are some tips for sweepstakes success from the seasoned promotional marketing experts at Marden-Kane! Do one thing well, not ten things poorly… focus on one type of promotion, ensure marketing messages clearly communicate the call to action, create an easy to enter means of entry, and promote participation to meet the established goals. Beth, Account Executive Keep it simple and don’t set your goals too high. Make sure the theme of your promotion is relevant to your audience. Peggy, VP Make sure the prizes are … Continue reading
4 Reasons Brands Should Embrace Sweepstakers
Sweepstakers, also known as “sweepers” and even as “compers” in the UK, are the people who put hours each day into entering sweepstakes and contests. Many of them consider it a full-time job. These people take promotions very seriously, and are frequently more well-versed in the ins and outs of sweepstakes industry than some brand marketers. Not all brands like the thought of a bunch of professional sweepstakers entering their promotions, though. They believe that people who are only in it for the prizes will not be brand loyal, won’t subscribe to their emails and won’t help the bottom line. … Continue reading
Working with Third Party Brands for a Contest
You should approach working with third party brands in a contest or sweepstakes with caution. Giving away highly sought after prizes like trips, electronics or gift cards, or running promotions on social platforms, may seem like a great idea to garner interest and new followers for your brand. However, if you are naming a specific brand name other than your own as part of your contest, you may need to ensure you are using best practices for using that third party brand. Ask for permission It is a good idea to obtain permission prior to offering third party products … Continue reading
Are Promotional Products Still Relevant?
Stacey Novick, Account Executive, contributed this post on promotional products. The $22 billion promotion industry is constantly changing to keep up with current consumer trends and the types of promotional products, whether premiums, branded merchandise or custom logo apparel, are also changing. Knowing that social media, gaining followers or having a commercial go viral are probably forefront on your mind, we want to provide you with some information on why promotional products are still relevant for you and your clients. Marden-Kane can recommend and help you source, procure and fulfill promotional products for any type of promotion. So what … Continue reading
Sweepstakes Winners: W-9’s and 1099’s
SVP, Fae Savignano contributed this informative post on what sponsors need to know about filing and processing winner W-9’s and 1099’s for their promotions. Sponsors of Promotion Games of Chance offering and awarding prizes valued at $600 or more should be aware that they are responsible to obtain a signed, legible copy of an IRS form W-9 from every winner that they issue a prize to. This means that any eligible entrant who has been verified as a prize Winner you issue a prize of $600 or more to, will need to fill out a W-9 form for you … Continue reading
Current Marden-Kane Promotions
Due to popular demand, we are providing a list of some of our current Marden-Kane promotions. Select sweepstakes and contests that we administer will be listed here. Check back often as we will be adding to this list weekly! Each promotion is governed by Official Rules that are accessible by clicking the link provided.
Father’s Day Promotion Ideas
Father’s Day is sneaking up on us. And if you have a product that speaks to dads, you should embrace all your dad fans out there by running a contest or sweepstakes to build up your fan base and increase brand loyalty. Here are a few promotion ideas to help your brand celebrate all the Dads out there! #DadLife Instagram Sweepstakes: New dads holding their babies. Dads coaching soccer games. Dads braiding their little girls hair. It’s all part of #DadLife. Ask people to share their dad life photos and short videos on Instagram that shows dads being dads and … Continue reading
The Facts About Prizes Revealed
Fae Savignano, SVP, contributed this post about prizes. Research shows that more than half of all adults in the U.S. enter at least one sweepstakes every year, and this amount increases exponentially. Promoting Sweepstakes and Contests are an excellent way to engage and retain your customers and a properly structured prize offering will definitely enhance your endeavor. Let’s face it, the chance of winning an expensive and alluring prize is just too tempting to resist! As we all know, a prize is always present in Sweepstakes and Contests; therefore, here are some key points to keep in mind when … Continue reading
How to Contact Winners in Social Media Contests
Running a promotion on Twitter or Instagram or other social platform is fairly easy. You basically follow the social platform guidelines, post rules, collect entries and select winners from valid posts or tweets or pins. The hard part can be contacting and clearing winners. In a traditional contest where a form is used to collect data you typically collect address and phone or email so contacting winners is easy. A small prize can easily be mailed straight to an address. A winner of a larger prize can be called or emailed. But in a social promotion all you may … Continue reading
Our Services
Recent Articles
- 10 Amazing Prizes Under $600 Your Customers Will Want to Win
- How Do I Run a Text to Win Sweepstakes?
- From the MK Promotion Archives: Marden-Kane Advertisements Through The Years
- From the MK Promotion Archives: Hunt’s Great Recipe Hunt
- Why Do People LOVE Cash Prizes
