Category: Prizes

Making Holiday Toy Dreams Come True

The Cabbage Patch Kid my grandmother gave me for Christmas when I was a kid was one of those right place, right time stories. It was that Christmas 1983, when you could not find a Cabbage Patch Doll anywhere. It was THE hot item that year – the one everyone wanted and no one could get. And my grandmother happened to be on a cruise in Europe that November

November 24, 2015

Sweepstakes Prizes: Regift or Keep?

When offering prizes in a sweeps, you have to offer what people want. We generally tell clients to keep prizing simple: offer cash, electronics, trips or cars, depending on your prize budget. People want those the most. But we wanted to put this to the test! So we polled people on a short nine item list of potential sweepstakes prizes to see if they would keep or regift the

November 10, 2015

6 Tips for Creating a Contest Winning Entry

Creating a winning entry isn’t hard. As a promotional agency, Marden-Kane has helped our clients judge and moderate hundreds of thousands of contest entries over the last 67 years. We have seen great entries. And we have seen terrible ones. Be one of the great ones! Just follow these simple tips: Don’t use, mention or show any copyrighted materials! Thousands of entries are disqualified every year for not following

September 4, 2015

MISSING: Star Wars themed 1977 Toyota Celica GT

A long, long time ago, in the ancient Marden-Kane offices in Manhattan, we gave away a car in a sweepstakes. But not just any car. This was a tricked out 1977 Toyota Celica GT, with a Star Wars custom paint package, powered by The Force. These are not the droids you’re looking for, but have you seen this car? This sweet ride was the Grand Prize in a STAR WARS

August 20, 2015

Back to School Promotion Planning

There are a lot of shoppers and eyes online in July, August and September. Perfect timing for running online promotions geared toward back-to-school. And now is the perfect time to start planning! Simple Back to School sweepstakes with great prizes are always popular as it there is low or no barrier to entry yet the reward can be high. A social sweepstakes may work for a campus event. User-generated content

May 15, 2015

Run a Sweepstakes to Make Small Business Saturday A Big Win

Five years ago American Express started promoting a new concept: Small Business Saturday. The idea is simple: consumers are asked to spend their holiday shopping dollars locally at small businesses, and American Express provides incentives to those shoppers. In just those five years, the concept of shopping locally the day after Black Friday has become a holiday tradition. So how can your small business make this the best Small

November 7, 2014

5 Fabulous “Trip of a Lifetime” Prizes

Katie Blaney, former Marden-Kane Account Supervisor, contributed this blog post about one-of-a-kind, budget-minded trips to award as prizes. Americans love vacations but more than half of them who do not plan on taking a trip this year say it is due to a lack of funds. So why not give them a chance to win it? Trips as prizes allow winners to explore sights, food, and cultures they would

August 12, 2014

5 Prizes People Want to Win

We are constantly asked by our clients what prizes people want to win. Here is a short list of what we know works to entice consumers to enter a sweepstakes or contest, and makes them happy to accept as a winner. 1. Cash and gift cards. Cash is always king, with gift card requests coming in a close second. In reviewing our sweeps participation across all types of clients

July 31, 2014

Prize Procurement and Fulfillment Services can be Basic or Exotic

Speed and accuracy are must have qualities in simple procurement and fulfillment assignments and most agencies can handle the responsibility. But we have been in planning meetings where we hear clients say keep the prize structure simple. Why? If you have a complex prize in mind that pays off your brand strategy, you just need a more experienced and resourceful agency to make it a reality. We immerse

October 18, 2013

Are You For Real? 5 Reasons People Don’t Claim Their Prizes

We get this all the time. Are you for real? Is this a scam? Makes me think of the book, “Are You My Mother?” In the story a baby bird hatches while his mother is away and has no idea what to do. He asks everyone from a dog to a plane to finally a steam shovel before he finally finds her. He has no idea what he is looking

March 28, 2013