Category: Contests

10 Holiday Prize Ideas for Your Next Sweepstakes

Fall has finally arrived, which means the holidays are just around the corner. Haunted houses, turkey, and Santa Claus are on your customers’ minds – make their dreams come true by offering prizes they would want in your upcoming promotion. Here are some holiday prize ideas for your next sweepstakes: For Halloween: 1. Pumpkin Picking/Hay Ride Trip It’s not fall until leaves have fallen and you have a pumpkin

October 12, 2017

What Should Be Required for a Sweepstakes Entry?

This post covering what information should be required for a sweepstakes entry was contributed by Cheryl Thornton, Account Director. We have written about data collection in a past article, but since this is a major concern for both Sponsors and consumers alike, we wanted to discuss the topic further. Before the recent issues of privacy concerns and new privacy regulations, the required standard information – also known as “PII”, or

October 10, 2017

Win Experiential Marketing with Legal Giveaways

Experiential Marketing is all about brands creating exciting or memorable experiences for their customer, or potential customers, in order to increase brand affinity. These experiences can be in the form of a limited mini-experience like a meet and greet or surprise freebie in-store, or part of a larger event such as a branded booth at a big sporting event, or even as a large event where the brand is

October 9, 2017

3 Tips for a Big Football Sweepstakes Score

Football season is back! Time for tailgating and weekend fun watching the pee-wee, high school, college and professional games. You might think that it would be a great time to promote your business by giving away game tickets or running a football sweepstakes. And it is! People love winning free tickets or team merchandise, especially autographed items or trips to big games. However, there are three questions to ask before

August 25, 2017

Criteria for Judging a Video Contest

Fae Savignano, Marden-Kane SVP, provides this in depth post on video contest criteria. 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? I’m glad you asked. Taking into account all of the previously suggested Judging Criteria in the articles above that may also apply to a Video Entry including some

June 27, 2017

10 Necessary Features of an Online Contest Judging Tool

Sometimes a client comes to us with a technical vendor who has an online judging tool they plan to use. The problem with that scenario is that their vendor typically thinks like a technical expert and not like a contest expert. We believe that judging should be approached from a marketing perspective as well as a technical perspective! And the online judging tool should be built accordingly — like the

May 4, 2017

Regulated Industries and Sweepstakes

Some regulated industries require special disclosures and/or have special legal requirements for running sweepstakes. These regulated industries include alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, firearms, dairy, banking, pharmaceuticals, and cause-related marketing. It is absolutely essential to know the laws of these industries, or partner with a promotional marketing firm who works with legal counsel who is familiar with these laws, before undertaking a contest or sweepstakes. Here are some basics to be

April 14, 2017

Social Contests and Sweepstakes: Favorite (and Least Favorite) Platforms to Use

Social contests and sweepstakes are currently the most popular tactic that we are seeing our clients use to increase brand awareness and reach. The Marden-Kane team has some strong ideas on what social platforms work, and which ones can cause headaches. We compiled this list of pros and cons to use when evaluating social platforms for your brand’s next social promotion. Remember: If you are thinking of running social contests

April 4, 2017

Conducting a Background Check on a Winner — Is It Necessary?

This week’s blog on running a background check was contributed by one of our Account Supervisors, Cheryl Thornton. From time to time the topic of running a background check on a winner is discussed with our clients. There are number of factors to consider before determining if a background check is applicable for a promotion. We guide our clients by asking what their goals or needs are, along with the nature

March 24, 2017

20 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Contest Vendor

Before hiring a contest vendor you should ask lots of questions. Not all vendors are created equal. Some may be technically proficient but lack legal expertise. Some have the legal credentials but can’t build a website or do registration and bonding. Here are twenty questions you should be asking before you select your contest vendor: How well do they know sweepstakes law and advertising and mobile? A top notch promotional

March 10, 2017