Category: Instant Win Games

5 Things To Know About Running an Instant Win Game

Marden-Kane is your source for custom or pre-built instant win games that can be used for your next promotion. Not sure what an instant win game is? Check out our demo, and read on for 5 things to know about them: What is an instant win game? An instant win game is a game of chance where a player finds out instantly if they have won a prize. The

April 27, 2025

5 Ideas for a Successful Cinco de Mayo Promotion

Cinco do Mayo has become a huge party day in the bar and restaurant business. You can take your party – whether it be in your restaurant or via a takeout box — to the next level with these five ideas for a Cinco de Mayo promotion. 1. Run a Cinco de Mayo Social Sweepstakes or Contest Run a social sweepstakes or contest on Twitter or Instagram for a chance

March 19, 2021

Use Unique Codes for Your Next Instant Win or Sweepstakes

Use unique codes can enhance your next sweepstakes, giveaway, or instant win game. With unique codes incorporated into your promotion you can: Provide tracking of entrants back to a region or store. Give your sales team a specific range of codes that can be tracked back to their sales, which can give you the opportunity to reward the highest producers. Pinpoint game participation to a specific geographic area. Determine

February 28, 2020

McMillion$ and the Importance of Instant Win Game Security

If you aren’t sure why instant win game security is that big of a deal, you might want to watch the new HBO docuseries called McMillion$. It details the strange, and almost unbelievable, true story of how an employee at a promotional marketing company called Simon Marketing, a former competitor of Marden-Kane’s, committed fraud in the McDonald’s Monopoly games between 1989 and 2001, bilking McDonald’s and their customers out of

February 13, 2020

From the MK Promotion Archives: Tigerino – the First Scratch-Off Game Card

Marden-Kane originated the first scratch-off game card with Tigerino. The Tigerino promotion was designed for Humble Oil’s ESSO and ENCO gas stations in 1966, to capitalize on the already popular “Put a Tiger in Your Tank” ad campaign. The idea was simple: if you purchased gas you could get a game card. Every game was a winner, but some game cards awarded big cash prizes depending on the letters

August 8, 2019

You Don’t Have To Reinvent the Wheel to Run a Digital Scratch-Off Game

Did you know that creative development and animation for a digital scratch-off game or other instant win game can cost thousands of dollars? And that does not even include legal fees to write official rules, procure and fulfill prizes, or programming. Why not use a budget-friendly, pre-built game, customized with your brand colors and logo(s), to execute your next digital scratch-off game. Why should you run an instant win game?

May 30, 2019

Prize Fail: Avoid These Prizes

Don’t have a prize fail! Take the advice of the experts at Marden-Kane on what prizes to avoid – and what works! – for your next sweepstakes or contest. “A prize by any other name is still a prize” and one would hope that it will bring joy to the lucky winner. But this is not always true as some enter just for entering then realizes that their prize

February 28, 2017

Black Friday Promotion Ideas to Make Your Brand Stand Out

Black Friday is coming, and it’s time to come up with a hook that will make shoppers want to come to your store on the big day. Here are some tips to get your planning started. Start early. Get your mailing or email list ready a few months or weeks prior to Black Friday. A good way to make sure your list is ready is to send out countdown emails

August 31, 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

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