July 29th, 2009
Am I going 55? How The Speeding Analogy Can Help You Evaluate Business Risk
No matter your position- conservative or otherwise- evaluating business risk scenarios in the promotional world is challenging.
Without a single federal task force regulating Sweepstakes, Games, and Contests, promotional oversight is decentralized and left in the hands of too many groups to list- the USPS (Federal Deceptive Mail Prevention & Enforcement Act), other quasi regulatory federal agencies, along with each state’s Attorney General office and Consumer Protection group, just to name a few. As a result, fines, penalties and other actions stemming from scrutinized promotions are not consistent or predictable. Continue Reading…
Categories: Promotion Risks
July 19th, 2009
You’re Already “Going Green” and Might Not Know It
The increased popularity of online marketing as a promotional tool aligns with the current trend in our society to “go green.” The new generation of technology, which includes social media networking is a low-cost way to engage consumers that is as well eco-friendly.
Chances are, you have chosen to use online and social media networking solutions for your promotions for the efficacy and viral nature of such platforms. But have you considered the positive environmental impact from using online promotions? Continue Reading…
Categories: Budget Friendly, Technology
July 19th, 2009
No Small Blunders in Cyberspace
Gone are the days where a local PR event gone awry would cause local bad buzz and in a few days’ time, be forgotten. Local newspapers would pick up the story; the faulted company would spend an afternoon preparing a statement to coincide with the drop of the negative article in tomorrow’s paper. If the company was lucky, the bad news would spread as far as the paper route.
With the expansion of online and social media, there is no longer such a thing as local. Nor is there such a thing as having an afternoon to prepare. Pepsi’s recent NY Yankees ticket giveaway in NYC comes to mind Continue Reading…
Categories: Advertising, Legal, Media, News, Technology
July 19th, 2009
Take A Chance, Dip Your Toes In
Let’s face it. Dipping your toes in the water and introducing your Brand on Social Media platforms can be downright scary. We’ve all heard the questions- What will consumers say? Where are the controls? How will we be exposed? All relevant questions and reasonable. But, they’re not progressive.
The real question you should be asking is… Continue Reading…
Categories: Advertising, Media, Technology
July 14th, 2009
Old Laws vs. New Technology
As you might know, the laws that govern the promotion industry are often complex and unclear. Throw into the mix the myriad of new technologies and you get a giant “legal question mark”.
In the old days, the formula was fairly straight forward: a promotion became illegal if all three of the following elements were present in a concept: Continue Reading…
Categories: Legal, Technology
June 29th, 2009
And you thought Direct Mail was dead
In an interesting article in the July Issue of Promo Magazine written by Peter Meyers, a survey of 1,529 households shows that young professionals in the 18-34 demographic prefer to receive information in the mail over other electronic options. The group pegged privacy as one of the main reasons for this.
The survey conducted in February, showed respondents in the 18 to 34 demographic proclaimed nearly a two-to-one preference for receiving product information by direct mail over e-mail or online, across all categories.
For the entire article visit http://promomagazine.com/mag/0701-privacy-cited-penchant-direct-mail/
Categories: Advertising, Technology
June 5th, 2009
You Never Call Me Anymore
Everyday in the offline world, we are bombarded with thousands of advertisements – usually asking us to do the same thing: remember this URL (preferably when you are in front of a computer) or call us for more information. How often do any of us do that? Seriously, do you remember the last time you ate some chips and then went online or phoned in to enter the Potato Chip Dream Vacation Sweepstakes? Continue Reading…
Categories: Advertising, Media, Prizes, Technology, Uncategorized, Winners
June 5th, 2009
Whatever happened to freedom of speech?
I recently read an article titled “Advertisers brace for online viral marketing curbs”. The article speaks to the possibility of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) revising guidelines on endorsements and testimonials submitted by bloggers and users of social networking sites who receive samples of companies’ products. The main target of the new guidelines appears to be Continue Reading…
Categories: Advertising, Legal, Media, News, Technology
May 27th, 2009
Travel Tips from the Front Lines
So, your Promotion has ended, and now you are charged with the task of booking your Grand Prize winner’s travel. Keeping in mind that your winner may never have ventured farther than the outskirts of their hometown, it would be wise to provide them with more than just their airline tickets & hotel confirmation number. It’s all about the experience for the winner – think about it… being a Grand Prize winner is a huge deal! To ensure that your winner has the best possible experience, a little hand-holding will turn a good experience into a GREAT experience. Some things to consider… Continue Reading…
April 27th, 2009
How Many Winners Do You Really Need?
Often when clients approach us with a new concept, the age-old question “How many winners should we have?” comes up. It’s the debate of perceived odds of winning with oodles of prizes versus offering a single major knock-your-socks-off prize. Both effective? Yes. Which is better? Depends.
We’ve seen effective promotions on both sides of the coin. The answer to prize structure scope truly depends on promotion marketing objectives. Continue Reading…