October 2015 - American Sweepstakes

Here’s a fun Facebook “Dislike” Button Contest run by DesignCrowd

Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, confirmed during a live stream event back in September that they were working on a “Dislike” button. Facebook has resisted adding a “Dislike” button as a companion to its “Like” button for some time. However, based on popular demand from Facebook users Zuckerberg stated they are now working on a new tool to fit this role.

We all can agree that “like” does not fit all status updates and situations, say a death in the family or a crisis. “It’s important to give people more options than just ‘like'” to help express empathy and sympathy, Zuckerberg said. “Not every moment is a good moment.” Many people predict a “dislike” button or buttons that convey other emotions will be a boon for Facebook. The latest news is that Facebook is doing some testing in a few countries.

The team at Design Crowd, a virtual design studio, thought they would have a little fun and ran a design contest back in September. With Facebook announcing it is almost ready to launch a new ‘Dislike’ button, they invited their designers to create new Facebook buttons that they would like to see and use to communicate how they may feel about a page post.

They directed the designers to create designs in the Facebook blue and white style, as they would appear on the site and ensure their submissions were high quality images and met certain sizes requirements. The participants also needed to include a rationale for why they would want to see the button they submitted used on Facebook.

Design Crowd also provided them with a few ideas for inspiration to help get them started which are listed here, along with a few of the actual designs that were submitted:

– Respect button
– ‘Stop showing me photos of your baby’ button
– No way! button
– Enough Already button
– Solidarity button
– Hugs button
– The love button
– Meh button
– Get over it button
– Rant button

A panel of judges reviewed all the many design submissions and awarded the Grand Prize to January Hill for her ‘Just Eat It Already’ design. She received a small cash prize as well as did a few finalists.

DesignCrowd provides logo, website, print and graphic design services by offering access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world. They currently have a ‘virtual team’ of 488,229 designers from around the world (via crowdsourcing). They are headquartered in Australia and you can see how they works here.

I thought this was a really cleaver and fun way for a company to run a contest that tied into something happening in the world of social media. There are many opportunities like this that you can take advantage to engage with your audience. A survey that eMarketer recently published stated that Increasing Audience Engagement is the key Objective is Social Media Marketing. So here DesignCrowd to a great job in engaging their designers.

Just to note, Facebook was not associated with this contest in any way. So what type of buttons would you like to see Facebook add? Let us know you thoughts here.

BAA’s 37th Marketing Law Conference: Walking the Line Between Innovation & Regulation

In a few weeks I’ll be headed back to Chicago to attend the Annual BAA/PMA Marketing Law Conference which takes place each November, always in Chicago since I can remember. This year’s conference is titled “Walking the Line: Between Innovation and Regulation” which runs November 9-11. This is the industry’s most important marketing and advertising law conference which this year includes over 60 sessions and 125 different speakers from some of the nation’s leading brands and law firms.

Here are some of the topics that will be discussed at this year’s conference:

• Expanded coverage of social and digital media, with many social media companies speaking
• New sessions on alcohol and marijuana regulation
• First ever session to covering the Internet of Things
• More in-depth discussion of litigation issues from the FTC, NAD, and state attorneys general
• A virtual mini-conference on pertinent privacy issues
• A focus on rapidly expanding technologies and their relationship with current laws
• New coverage on sports and event marketing, SAG-AFTRA, and entertainment marketing
• Major sessions on retail marketing legal issues, cross-device tracking, and gaming

Plus all attendees can earn major CLE credits, abundant networking opportunities, and a 2,000-page conference book which is provided both digitally and in print.

The conference kicks off on Monday, Nov. 9th, at the Downtown Chicago Marriott right on Michigan Ave. There are some special sessions that afternoon to be followed by the annual welcome networking reception which is not to be missed.

The main attraction for me always is the first general session of the conference that will again feature Linda Goldstein from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, on Tuesday morning. Linda always has a very thorough and entertaining presentation which this year is titled: Marketing/Advertising Law Review: Sweepstakes, Contests, Privacy, Disclosure & Digital/Social Media. You can see the whole agenda here.

Right after Linda’s session will be another that I’m really looking forward to which is titled “Major Technologies and the Law Today and Tomorrow”. This session will include Nathan Wildermann, Advertising Counsel for Facebook. The group will review the most important trends and developments in technologies in the marketing and advertising arena.

There is a video that the BAA created which is featured on their website that includes some footage from last year’s conference and features some words from Linda Goldstein. Just scroll down to the bottom of the home page to take a look.

We’ll all be right on Michigan Ave. at the Marriott till Wed., Nov. 11, so hope to hope to see some of you in Chicago. You can register here. I’m hoping to have time again this year to make my annual shopping visit to the Nordstrom shoe department which is right next door!

Zombie Apocalypse Sweepstakes Campaign from PostNet

I’m continuing this week with the zombie theme that I started with last week’s post titled “Celebrate Halloween with these two zombie inspired promotions”. This new campaign from PostNet aims to help small businesses survive the zombie apocalypse and ties into the very popular TV series, “Walking Dead” that just premiered its 6th season on Sunday.

PostNet is a franchise corporation with locations throughout the U.S. that offer small and medium size business services such as printing, shipping, marketing, graphic design and wide array of other services. They position themselves as a nurturing partner for all marketing, printing and shipping needs and ensure that whatever business challenges may come about, they’ll provide personalized solutions.

As part of this campaign, PostNet created a series of videos on BeatZombies.com, their promotional website, that warns people of the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse and explains how PostNet can partner with business to help them survive and thrive through this.

They also developed a couple of tools that can be downloaded from the website, the Small Business Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide and the Zombie Classification guide. Each offers tips on how to thrive in any situation and how to identify the “walking dead”.

There is an entry form on the website that invites small business owners to enter the Zombie Apocalypse sweepstakes for a chance to join a coalition to fight the undead. One Grand Prize winner will win a trip to London to battle the zombies. Participants also may gain one additional entry for sharing on Facebook and one additional entry for sharing on Twitter.

The prize package includes round trip airfare for winner and a guest, 7 nights hotel accommodations, tickets and transportation to attend a Zombie Apocalypse event taking place in Leicester, UK, the week of February 14, 2016, along with $1,000 cash to help cover other expenses.

Here’s some metrics PostNet shared with us on how the campaign has done during its first 12 days:

MICRO-SITE Unique Visitors: 18,092
Sweepstakes Entries: 5,991
Video Views: 1,087
Facebook Shares of Sweepstakes (using plug-in on Microsite): 686
Twitter Shares of Sweepstakes (using plug-in on Microsite: 999
Online Printing Center Button Clicks: 200

SOCIAL MEDIA (aggregated Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram)
Total Impressions: 21,421
Total Engagements: 492
New Fans: 20

This is a very different campaign for PostNet since their target audience is small to medium size business owners. However so far they are very impressed with how well it is doing so far. All of us Walking Dead fans can definitely relate, and it appears that the small business owners can as well!

Celebrate Halloween with these two zombie inspired promotions

Just in time for Halloween, Bawls Guarana has partnered with Paramount Pictures in anticipation of the upcoming theatrical release of “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse“. The movie will be out on October 30 which is about three Boy Scouts who join forces with a tough cocktail waitress to save their once-peaceful town from an all-out, zombie invasion.

For those not familiar with Bawls Guarana, they are an energy drink manufactured here in the United States who have a pretty dedicated fan base. I know since my daughter collected the bottles during her high school days and made a pyramid out of them in her bedroom. They collected dust for a number of years before we recycled them!

We are administering a sweepstakes for them that ties into the movie. To enter participates just need to visit the Bawls Guarana Facebook Page and click on the link to open up the entry form page. The Sweepstakes is accepting entries up until October 25.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a BAWLS Guarana/“Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse” movie prize package that includes 2 cases of BAWLS Guarana along with 20 reward codes each valid for a certificate to see the movie. It also includes a year’s supply of BAWLS Guarana and a BAWLS Swag Pack that includes a sweat shirt, t-shirt, Coozies, backpack, key chain, mints and stickers.

They also are awarding one First Place prize winner four cases of BAWLS Guarana and four reward codes each valid for a certificate to see the movie. Ten Runner-up Prize winners will also each receive two movie reward codes and one case of BAWLS Guarana.

Another Halloween inspired promotion we are administering through our sister company, Alliance Sweepstakes, is for Colonial Williamsburg and their Haunted Colonial House Contest. Colonial Williamsburg is known as one of the “most haunted places in America”. So for the first time ever, they are allowing one lucky person. along with their family or friends, to spend Halloween night in one of their haunted Colonial Houses.

Participants are invited to click on their Facebook post and upload a photo of their favorite Halloween costume into the comments. They have until October 9. Then the Sponsor’s judges will select the top 5 finalists based on creativity, originality, inspiration and quality and post their album for viewers to vote on their favorite. Here are a few old photos of costumes (back from the ’80) that they posted on their blog to help inspire people.

Now historians have been unable to track down the original owners of the house, mainly due to wars and fires that occurred between the 18th century and today. Without records of who lived there, they also haven’t been able to identify the apparition that has been spotted in the house several times. The ghost is described as a woman in a dark, full dress sitting in a rocking chair on the lower level of the cottage. She appears to be observing what’s going on around her. Other times, while she isn’t spotted, the rocking chair itself will start rocking…. back-and-forth. You can read more about the history of this house on their Making History Now blog.

The winner will be announced on October 25 and has to be available to stay in Colonial Williamsburg on Halloween night. In addition to lodging accommodations for a party of four, each guest will receive an all-access pass to their Haunting on DoG Street as well as a $75 gift card to use toward dinner, souvenirs, and haunted carriage rides. They’ll also have the option to get professional zombie make-up done for the night and some super cool skeleton mugs! What fun!