53 Million Prizes

Let's talk prizes.

Heineken's Plug Into Summer Sweepstakes is offering "over" 53,000,000 (53 million) prizes worth a total of $29,405,000.

This promotion has a primary sweepstakes (prizes include trips, Fender guitars, tshirts), a secondary sweepstakes (prizes include Fender guitars and tshirts) and an instant win portion (53 million music downloads, valued at $0.55 each).

To play, consumers can find codes under caps of specially marked bottles of Heineken and Heineken Light beer. CA residents can participate in the instant win portion of the promotion only.

Check out the sweepstakes rules here - You must be 21 or older to play and win.

http://sweeps.usa.heineken.com/sweeps/

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/database-crm/6148.html

M&M's Coupon Sweepstakes

Here is a good example of a sweepstakes with a lot of prizes. As we have learned, consumers want to WIN.

The M&M's Brand Coupon Sweepstakes offers consumers a chance to win one of 507,878 free M&M’s coupon prizes. You must be 13 or older to enter and there is a limit of one entry per email address per day. Sweepstakes ends 8/27/10.

I was, however, disappointed in the site itself. It was very bland and had no graphics. I was looking for a better user experience. It wasn't there.

I do have one question - how did they come up with the number 507,878?

Go to: http://www.mms.com/us/couponsweepstakes/ to enter.

Domino's Show Us Your Pizza Contest is a very simple and engaging contest.

Domino's wants the world to know that their consumers are the best source for Domino's pizza pictures and they don't need a special photo shoot to get a great pizza shot.

To enter, order a Domino's pizza. Second, take a photo of your pizza and upload it to the contest site. Judges will select the best top four photos. Winners will receive $500 with a chance that their photo will be used in an actual Domino's commercial.

What I particularly like about the contest site is the behind-the-scene video of what it really takes to make the perfect pizza photo shoot. You can understand the reason behind the contest after watching the video. It's entertaining.

http://www.showusyourpizza.com/

Thanks to the economy, coupon use is on the rise. Consumers are looking for more ways to save money than ever before. In 2009, package goods companies saw an increase of 27% redemption over the year prior. But with the increase also comes fraud. As a manufacturer, you take steps to control fraud the best you can with the parameters you have. But some consumers clearly abuse the system. This article is targeted to the coupon users and what they should know about redeeming and using coupons.

http://www.nj.com/shopping/index.ssf/2010/06/the_8_rudest_coupon_sins_you_c.html

Bring the Promotion to the Consumer's Hometown

AMP Energy and the WEC are givings consumers the opportunity to bring a WEC fight to their hometown with the WEC Hometown Takedown Contest and Sweepstakes.

Consumers go to the website to vote for the city closest to where they live (there is a map of cities to select). Consumers can also vote by text. The city with the most votes by July 31 will host the WEC December bout. Plus one consumer will win a trip to the fight location including tickets to the event.

I like this promotion because consumers will determine the outcome of the host city. That's powerful. Fans can rally their friends to make a difference and drive more interested consumers to this site. The sponsors are giving the consumer a chance to make a difference and they are connecting with their target market. They are also building a database of those interested in future information on AMP Energy and the WEC.

Check out the site here while the promotion lasts (ends July 31, 2010) : http://promo3.cfapromo.com/wec_maverik/default.asp

At my local grocer, I found this shelf card with an actual Ziploc bag sample attached to the card.The shelf card reads - "New Smart Zip. Protection you can hear. Try it for yourself."

Now, we all know how a Ziploc bag works, and I've tried the cheaper brands, which don't seem to work as well. Regardless, I found myself trying the Ziploc sample right there in the store just to see if I could hear the difference.

In the book Brand Sense - Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy, by Martin Lindstrom, brands need to 1) take advantage of all available sensory touch points 2) find an innovative sensory mind-set that sets it apart from its competitors 3) find a way for the consumer to associate these sensory signals with this particular brand.

Ziploc has creatively found a way to do this for a very basic, rather simple product. They have focused on two sensory touch points by promoting touch and sound. And I got to sample the product in the store, right next to the actual product on-shelf.

With five senses to explore, what can you do with your brand to promote it's brand sense?

Coupon Articles of Interest

Ten tips for curtailing online coupon fraud.

http://multichannelmerchant.com/retail/news/0308-curtailing-online-coupon-fraud/

Coupons can be loaded with a startling amount of data, including identification about the customer, Internet address, Facebook page information and even the search terms the customer used to find the coupon in the first place. Check out this link. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/media/17coupon.html?pagewanted=2&emc=eta1--