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Cheddar’s Cafes Home for the Holidays Contest invites Brand Advocates to vote
It wasn’t a big surprise this year that Black Friday and Cyber Monday were not what they used to be. From the stats that I have read it appears that we now shop whenever we want, however we want, thanks to online and mobile. So even though some stores were open on Thanksgiving day, most people still shopped at home on the holiday. I admit that I contributed to the economy over the weekend and got my holiday shopping started, both online and in stores. The only day I ventured out was on Saturday and I did shop at one of the Small Business Saturday stores using my Amex Card, in which I will now receive a $10 credit.
To continue on with my coverage of some of this year’s holiday promotions, here’s another one that we are working on for a client, Cheddars Casual Cafes. They are running a “Home for the Holidays” Contest inviting people to tell them who they would like to spend their holidays with and why. Cheddars is known for it’s scratch kitchen and homemade food that they prepare in a casual restaurant atmosphere. So part of the contest requirements is to include a description of a great holiday meal that they shared with this special person who they unfortunately won’t be with this holiday season.
Participants need to describe in 150 words or less what was in this great holiday meal and where it was shared, along with what this special person means to them. A photo is also required to be submitted with their essay to complete their entry. Submissions are now being accepted up till December 7. After that a panel of judges will review all the submissions and choose 10 finalists based on the following criteria: Adherence to theme, Holiday Reunions 33%, Incorporation of a meal into the entry, 34%, Creativity: 33%.
The 10 finalists will then be voted on to determine the winners. But Cheddars decided to open up the voting segment not to the general public as in many user-generated content contests, but instead to customers who they have determined to be “Brand Advocates”. There are 424 of these “Brand Advocates” who each may cast 3 votes. They may cast these 3 votes any way they choose; all 3 votes for one Finalist, one vote to 3 different Finalists or 2 votes to one Finalist and one vote to another.
Three Grand Prize winners will be announced on or about December 19. They will each receive a $1,000 VISA Gift Card and a $250 Cheddar’s Gift Card. This will hopefully help them to connect with that special someone before the holiday season is over.
Our two daughters will both be home for Christmas and my husband and I are looking forward to it very much. We missed them at Thanksgiving and haven’t seen them since August when they were both home for a few days together. They have already put in their special menu requests. Their dad is the one who cooks most of the homemade meals in this kitchen.