The 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry report found that 42% of marketers were planning to increase their use of Instagram this year, compared to 38% in 2013. Instagram has grown and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to slow down in the coming new year. They currently have 200 million monthly users, and have become the network when it comes to image-based social media marketing. So what does 2015 have in store for Instagram?
Our clients over at Things Remembered are utilizing Instagram for their big Holiday promotion this year. Their #GiveMerry Sweepstakes is offering participants a chance to win a daily giveaway and to “personalize every moment with those you love”. Each day during the Sweepstakes period, Things Remembered is posting a close-up image on Instagram (@thingsremembered) of one of their products. Participants can get one entry into that day’s daily drawing by commenting on the Instagram post and correctly guessing what the product is that’s shown in the daily photo. Comments are being accepted from the moment each post goes live until 3:59 pm on the following day which is when our team then draws the daily winner.
There will be a total of 48 winners, one winner per day, who will each win the product that was featured in that day’s Instagram post. The promotion is live up until Christmas Eve. Here’s a couple of examples of before and after photos that have been posted this week.
Each winner is contacted via Instagram from Things Remembered and asked to Direct Message them back with their contact info and what they’d like the engraving to say on their #GiveMerry gift! All the prizes are featured in the Things Remembered Holiday Look Book. Personalizing a Holiday gift for someone is a great was to thank them and share warm memories.
So on that note, I would like to thank all our clients and readers for your continued support and wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day.
Many marketers are already in full force now that this holiday season is upon. Not only can I tell by watching TV, but my email box has been filling up with messages about holiday recipes, black Friday sales and various gift ideas. According to a recent poll by Experian Marketing Services, email marketing will be the most-used advertising channel this holiday selling season. So even with all the social media choices, 90% of these marketers say they’re sticking with the tried and true email message!
Sweepstakes are one of the most efficient ways to gather customer/user information and build a database with email addresses as well as mobile phone numbers for SMS messages. Running a sweepstakes during the Holiday season offers prospective customers the chance to win great prizes and also helps to build excitement and awareness of your brand.
We’ve been assisting the team at Experience Kissimmee in promoting their destination as a place to celebrate the holiday season with their Snowy Holiday Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes offers weekly chances to win a holiday getaway package to Kissimmee that includes 2-day/3-night hotel accommodations plus tickets to area attractions such as Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Now Snowing in downtown Celebration, FL, and to ICE! featuring the Nutcracker at Gaylord Palms Resort.
People are invited to enter the Sweepstakes by submitting an entry form on the promotional website, www.snowyholiday.com, or via text message by texting the keyword “snow” to a shortcode. Experience Kissimmee is currently promoting the sweepstakes only through channels targeting residents that live in areas within driving distance to Kissimmee. This is because the getaway prize package doesn’t include airfare along with the fact that the trip needs to be taken within a short time period. This market also happens to be one of Experience Kissimmee’s prime target audiences since it is a group that would most likely visit the destination on a yearly basis, if not several times a year.
“Our holiday sweepstakes is a key component of our seasonal campaign to encourage visitation to Kissimmee and highlight our variety of holiday events and special offers” states Megan Heron, Product Manager for Experience Kissimmee. “Consumers who enter for a chance to win may opt-in to learn more about what Kissimmee has to offer. We are excited to use this data to re-market to them during key travel planning periods throughout the year. Our direct marketing efforts have included email marketing and now can also include text messaging with last minute deals, e-newsletters and information about our ongoing campaigns and promotions.”
So far I’ve awarded two weekly winners with the getaway prize package and both are extremely excited and can’t wait to book their reservations and visit Kissimmee. One winner told me they are originally from the northeast and are looking forward to experiencing snow again, but this time in Florida!
The BAA/PMA 36th Annual Marketing Law Conference opened up last Thursday morning, November 6, to what we were told was another record turn-out for attendance. Linda Goldstein from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, started us off that morning with this statement “Digital is the conduit of consumer touch points. It has become the sand on how we connect with consumers. Consumers have become the marketing media. Devices make it possible, but they still need the personal connection to make it happen.”
Linda spoke to us for about 90 minutes on the subject titled “Key Legal Developments in Marketing/Advertising Law Affecting Sweepstakes, Contests, Privacy, Disclosure & Digital/Social Media”. As usual her talk was extremely informative and entertaining. Linda is widely recognized as one of the leading lawyers on this subject and what she shares with us each year at this conference is thought of as the bible that we in the industry follow.
We first reviewed what is an “Illegal Lottery”, a promotion that contains all 3 of these elements: Prize, Chance (random selection) and Consideration (Purchase, Payment or Time). The Time element of Consideration is still the most gray area. Most social media entry requirements do not usually have consideration. However, writing about a product or taking a photo or video of the product to enter may be consideration.
For example, if you can take a photo of yourself with the product in the store then a purchase would not be required. But, if you’re asked to take a photo of yourself with the product (in this example shoes) and be “out and about the town” that would most likely require purchasing the shoes and therefore, consideration. Fine line between the two, huh? Another example is when Dunkin Donuts asked participants to take a photo of themselves taking a bite of a donut. They can’t return the donut then, so wouldn’t that require purchase as well? You need to ask if the consumer can effectively compete without actually purchasing the product.
The degree of effort by consumers that is being required to enter is currently a big trend in social media sweeps. Participants can earn extra entries from performing different tasks and challenges. So how much is too much time and how much effort can you really require? The Supreme Court did rule that watching a 30 minute show isn’t too much time, so that’s a guideline. But keep in mind that while awarding bonus entries for sharing/referring may not likely to be deemed consideration, it may be against CAN/SPAM regulations or the FTC’s endorsement guidelines.
I was waiting to hear what Linda would say this year regarding whether text and data charges still constitute consideration. And similar to last year, she shared that there is still no definitive answer on this. There has been no regulatory action or challenges to date. Only case still is the class action lawyers who have challenged the premium text promotions. Linda stated that 75% of entries are now being done through mobile, but still recommends an AMOE (alternate method of entry) when offering text entries. No legal basis however can really be enforced since Wi-Fi is regularly available, however when offering text as a method of entry you should still state that data rates may apply and participants should consult their mobile providers.
Linda, along with some other great speakers we heard from throughout the conference, shared with us many more insights on various topics . It was noted many times that Facebook’s no like-gating policy that I wrote about in August finally went into effect on Nov. 5. Also there was more discussion on the FTC’s updated Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines that I wrote about when the FTC investigated the Cole Hann Pinterest Contest back in April. The take-away is that if the act of pinning, tweeting, or any use of videos, photos, etc. may constitute an endorsement, then the use of the sweepstakes/contest title alone in the hashtag is not adequate. You must also include #Contest or #Sweepstakes or a similar designation.
I’d like to wrap up this post with some quotes from both Linda and Ron Urbach from Davis & Gilbert LLP who spoke to us on the last morning of the conference. Ron stressed the challenge today of being an effective marketing lawyer in an era of rapid change. “Real-Time Marketing needs Real-Time Lawyering… a balance between practical insight and business sensitivity.” Today all of us in this marketing industry need to consider the risk, but also be realistic. Linda ended her presentation with this thought “The currency today is not money; it is consumer engagement and their content. But it is full of risks, and we must guard the waters.”
I will hopefully be headed back to next year’s 37th Annual Marketing Law Conference to meet up with everyone again at the Downtown Chicago Marriott in November, 2016. The BAA/PMA did a great job again this year and I’m sure next year will follow the same high standards. Yes, if anyone is curious, I did purchase some new boots this year from Nordstrom.
The TV talk shows this week have been featuring Mathew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway promoting the movie release of Interstellar which hits theaters this Friday. They both star in the movie, directed by Christopher Nolan, who play astronauts that journey to a distant galaxy on a desperate mission to save humanity from a decaying Earth in search of habitable planets across the universe. McConaughey is Coop, a Midwestern corn farmer and widowed dad who’s retired from the space program. He makes the decision to leave his daughter, Murph, and her brother behind for a decades-long trip into space.
Paramount Pictures has partnered up with Fandango who is the official sponsor of the Interstellar Sweepstakes. Each person who purchases a ticket to the movie on Fandango will be automatically entered into the sweepstakes. Vice Media, LLC, via their Motherboard Channel, is listed as the Prize Provider who is working with XCOR Aerospace, Inc. to award this amazing prize. One Grand Prize winner will win an XCOR trip into space! The trip consists of one seat onboard an XCOR spacecraft, the LYNX Mark II, which is currently being assembled, on a date to be determined by XCOR sometime in 2017. The Lynk Flight will take the winner up to an altitude of approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles).
Now I have to admit I’ve never given away a prize like this! Besides the Lynk Flight the prize package also includes round trip air transportation and transfers from the Winner’s home residence to the spaceport, which is still TBD, along with hotel accommodations near the spaceport. The winner has to complete a medical exam to be cleared for travel onboard the Lynk Flight and once approved will receive a check for $50,000. The winner must also complete and sign an XCOR Informed Consent Liability Waiver Agreement and other XCOR Clearance obligations provided by XCOR that include on-site training, along with a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability/Publicity Release. The total prize package is valued at $150,000.
The Official Rules do state that the winner may choose a cash option instead which is half the value of the prize package, $75,000. In my experience the winner 95% of the time takes the cash. But this prize is not something that anyone can purchase themselves, so who know. Also, the rules do state that there is an alternate means of entry to enter the Sweepstakes without purchasing a movie ticket by filling out an online sweepstakes entry form at www.fandango.com/sweepstakes/interstellar. A maximum of 10 entries per person is allowed regardless of the method of entry.
The Sweepstakes runs till December 1, 2014. The movie has already received some good reviews, both for it’s emotional heart-warming story between a father and daughter, and for it’s visionary effects. We’ll see if Mathew McConaughey is up for another Oscar this year.
Our clients over at Things Remembered are utilizing Instagram for their big Holiday promotion this year. Their #GiveMerry Sweepstakes is offering participants a chance to win a daily giveaway and to “personalize every moment with those you love”. Each day during the Sweepstakes period, Things Remembered is posting a close-up image on Instagram (@thingsremembered) of one of their products. Participants can get one entry into that day’s daily drawing by commenting on the Instagram post and correctly guessing what the product is that’s shown in the daily photo. Comments are being accepted from the moment each post goes live until 3:59 pm on the following day which is when our team then draws the daily winner.
