Category: Administration & Compliance

Commercial Co-Ventures, CCV Filing and Cause Related Marketing

A Commercial Co-Venture (CCV) occurs when a for-profit business and a non-profit organization make an arrangement for a donation or some percentage of profit from the business’ sales go to the charity. This type of cause related marketing is regulated in almost half of the states in the U.S., and may require that the business complete some sort of CCV filing or registration in the state(s) where the transaction is

September 23, 2016

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

September 8, 2016

Privacy Shield Lists Marden-Kane, Inc

Marden-Kane, Inc. has met the requirements to be listed on the Privacy Shield list. The EU-US Privacy Shield Framework was developed by the US Department of Commerce and the European Commission to meet the data requirements of the EU for safe, secure data transfers of personal data from the EU to the US. The Privacy Shield Framework was approved earlier this year, and the web site was launched on

August 15, 2016

What the Heck is an AMOE?: A Guide to Sweepstakes Acronyms

Sweepstakes rules frequently contain acronyms that are not easily deciphered, like SASE or AMOE. Here is a guide to the most common sweepstakes acronyms that you might come across in a set of sweepstakes rules. AMOE AMOE stands for Alternate Method of Entry (or Alternate Means of Entry). An AMOE is a free, no purchase necessary method of entry that is sometimes included in a Sweepstakes if the usual

June 8, 2016

#Hashtag Contests 101

The buzzword in contests right now are hashtag contests (or hashtag sweepstakes). These types of promotions are easy to run, less expensive than setting up a contest web site, and don’t require a lot of lead time. The simplicity and low cost appeals to a lot of businesses anxious to expand their social channels, but you will still need to follow some best practices to ensure that you don’t run

May 17, 2016

The 7 Deadly Sins of Promotional Marketing

Marketing your products and services with sweepstakes, contests, loyalty programs or coupons is a proven way to get new customers and keep existing ones. How could giving something away or providing incentives go wrong? Trust us, it can. To ensure success, try to avoid any of these 7 deadly sins of promotional marketing. Greed: Asking for money. We know for many companies, the primary goal of promotional marketing is to

May 13, 2016

Skill Testing Question in Canada: Why Is It Required?

Fae Savignano, our SVP, explains why a Skill Testing Question is required if you run a Sweepstakes in Canada. If you are a Canadian resident and enter a Sweepstakes you will be required to correctly answer a mathematical skill testing question in order to be eligible to enter and possibly win a prize. Residents of the United States do not have this prerequisite, as this rule is specific only

May 3, 2016

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.

February 23, 2016

How to Prevent Contest Voting Fraud

Eric Grimm, former Senior Programmer, wrote this piece about voting fraud — and how to stop it. Online contests are all the rage with the kids these days. After the initial entries are judged, frequently the finalists’ submissions are opened up for voting by the public at large to determine a final winner. If the prize is tantalizing enough, this creates a rather large target for voter fraud. This

January 19, 2016

Things To Consider When Working With A Celebrity — Risky Or Rewarding?

Rosemary Stein, VP from our Chicago office, wrote this piece for MK on what to consider when you want to run a promotion that involves a celebrity. There are advantages and disadvantages to using celebrities in your promotions. Athletes, actors and musicians can influence purchase especially when they align themselves with a product that is relevant to the brand’s target demographic. Very popular celebs can appeal to a broader

January 15, 2016