Blog Archives - Page 15 of 28 - American Sweepstakes

Pet Costume Contests are the buzz this Halloween

We’ve been seeing quite a variety of Halloween contests and sweepstakes running this year. Pet costume contests are especially popular and we’ve been helping one of our clients with one.

The folks at Boot Barn, America’s largest Western and Work Wear store, is running the Halloween Giddy Up Contest. Folks are invited to submit a photo of their pet in a costume by tomorrow, October 27th. Their entries will be judged on creativity and originality of the photo they submitted. A grand prize winner will receive a $200 Boot Barn Gift Card and two first place winners will each receive a $50 Boot Barn Gift Card.

In case you’re not sure how to dress up your pet, the team at ShortStack sent us a copy of this fun Halloween promotion that was done for a company called Supreme Source which is running on their Facebook page. Shortstack is the platform that we use to create entry pages on Facebook and online for some of our client’s sweepstakes and contests.

Supreme Source created the Halloween Dog Costume Generator that helps doggie parents choose a Halloween costume for their pups. Once the costume suggestion is revealed, the campaign allows users to share their results on Facebook with their friends and gives users a link to some fun and easy do-it-yourself dog costumes. Plus, when you take the quiz you’re entered in a drawing to win one of three Supreme Source® Prize Pack!

Here’s some interesting news that I just received from Talkwalker, an international social media analytics firm. When it comes to Halloween costumes this year, Talkwalker is reporting that social media is telling us that Donald Trump (9,006 mentions in the past 30 days) is the winner over Hillary Clinton (5,297).

However, the costumes generating the most buzz over the past 30 days are robbery victim Kim Kardashian (11,488 mentions), red sweater debate superstar Ken Bone (6,973) and the Joker’s sidekick, Supervillian Harley Quinn (5,644). During that same period in 2015, the top costumes included Batman (2,835 mentions), Donald Trump (1,773) with Hillary Clinton not even appearing in the top 25 mentions.

So whatever you and your pet decide to dress up for this Halloween, I wish you a fun holiday!

The Cutest Pet of 2016 Photo Contest from Pet Parade

If you think that your pet is the cutest dog, cat, or other animal here’s your a chance to get some admiration and agreement from others. The Cutest Pet of 2016 Photo Contest recently launched which has been developed by a new start up company called Pet Parade that we’ve been assisting.

The Submission Period is now open till December 31. To enter a participant must first create an account by signing up through Facebook or by providing their email address and creating a password. They then can register their pet by providing their pet’s name, whether it’s a dog, cat or other type of animal, the breed, the pet’s age, and whether it’s a male or female. You can register more than one pet on this page. The next step is to upload up to 3 photos of your pet. The last step is to complete your own profile by uploading a photo of yourself with your name and your location.

I have registered my golden retriever, Shadow, and included this photo of him. Once submitted you are invited to share and invite others to register via email, Facebook or Twitter. The voting period begins on Election Day, November 8th. The folks at Pet Parade will send everyone who entered their pet an email invite on how to download the Pet Parade Mobile App to participate in the voting process.

There will be two monthly voting periods. The first is Nov. 8 – Nov. 30 and the second, Dec. 1 – 31. To vote you will be presented with several different “Face Off” challenges that consist of a question with two different pets featured and you must answer the question by voting for one of the two pets. The winning pet of that round will face a new Pet with the same question. This will continue into a tenth and final round. A Participant may not vote for their own pets, but they may vote and send virtual treats to other pets to help them earn points and win.

At the end of each monthly voting period, the top 10 pets from each of the three categories (Dog, Cat or Critter) with the highest number of points will become a Finalist and be included in the Finalist judging round. There will be a grand total of 20 finalists (ten per month) for each of the three (3) categories for a total of 60 Finalists. A panel of judges will review all the Finalists and determine a first, second and third Place winner for each category. They will utilize the following judging criteria for determining all the winners: Public Appeal ( Total Points Earned) 40%, Creativity and Originality 30%, Quality of photo 30%.. From these 9 winners they will then choose one Grand prize winner from all 3 categories.

Each of the 10 monthly Finalists will receive a Pet Parade T-shirt. The First Place winners from each category will each receive a 1st Place Ribbon, a custom Pet Parade T-shirt with the Pet’s photo and a gift basket of treats and toys. The Second Place winners will each receive a 2nd Place Ribbon and a gift basket of treats and toys and the Third Place winners will each receive a 3rd Place Ribbon and a gift basket of treats and toys. The one Grand Prize winner will receive a custom engraved trophy cup with the title “THE CUTEST PET OF 2016”, a custom Pet Parade T-shirt with the pet’s photo and a gift basket of treats and toys worth $500.

Pet Parade is planning to run more contests throughout 2017 and this one is just the start. So get your pets ready and spread the word. It should be lots of fun.

This Choose Your Travel Adventure Sweepstakes offers 3 great destinations

We’re administering this new sweepstakes that offers the winner a choice of three different destinations to choose from. The “Choose Your Travel Adventure” Sweepstakes was launched a couple of weeks ago by Tokia Marine HCC Medical Services Group. The objective of the sweepstakes is to create awareness of their Atlas Travel Insurance.

To enter the sweepstakes participants visit the online sweepstakes page and fill out an entry form with their name and email address. They must also answer five questions that pertain to the Atlas Travel Insurance. There is this link to open up a new page to use as reference that contains information on the insurance. Participants need to get at least three answers correct to be eligible for the prize and the questions are not too tough.

The winner and their guest will receive airfare to one of the destinations along with five-night lodging at a nice hotel all valued at $5,000. The menu on the top of the sweepstakes page links to other pages that include details about each location to help participants make their choice.

If Reykjavik, Iceland, is chosen, the winner and their guest would fly into Keflavik Intl Airport (KEF) and stay at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica. Iceland offers countless natural sights to behold from the celestial glow of the Northern Lights to the ethereal beauty of Blue Lagoon’s geothermal spa. The Reykjavik page offers information on the top 8 things to see and do there, such as the Blue Lagoon and the Northern Lights. Iceland’s topography is shaped by both glaciers and volcanoes, resulting in a variety of landscapes that are truly extraordinary including waterfalls, hot springs, lava formations, lakes, rivers, mountains, and cliffs.

If Florence, Italy, is chosen, the winner and their guest would fly into Aeroporto di Firenze (FLR) and stay at the Hotel Brunelleschi, which is very close to the Duomo di Firenze which is at the heart of Florence. Florence is a prime destination for those who desire a vacation rich in history and amazing food. The Florence page offers further information on the top things to see and do here, such as Duomo di Firenze & Giotto’s Bell Tower and to view multiple famous works of art created by Michelangelo including the “David”. Also Florence is located in the middle of Tuscany, which means it’s surrounded by a beautiful array of vineyards, green fields and rolling hills.

If Sydney, Australia, is chosen, the winner and guest will fly into the Sydney Airport (SYD) and stay at Sydney’s deluxe, 5-star Swissotel Sydney located in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, Swissotel Sydney. Sydney stretches from the Blue Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. The city’s northern edges line the southern shore of Lake Macquarie, its southern borders extending just south of Botany Bay. Capital of the state of New South Wales, Sydney is widely recognized for its stunning harbor, vibrant cities, and cosmopolitan vibe. The Sydney page includes information on the top things to see and do there such the Sydney Opera house, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Royal Botanic Gardens, and Bondi Beach.

Entrants can also get two bonus entries, one for following the sponsor on Twitter, @hccmis, and another for tweeting about the sweepstakes with the hashtag #5kTripSweepstakes and an @hccmis mention. The sweepstakes ends soon, October 16, so check it out before it’s gone.

BAA Marketing Law Conference – FACE-OFF: Dynamic Technologies vs. Regulatory Controls

I’ll be headed back to Chicago to attend the Annual BAA/PMA Marketing Law Conference which takes place next month, November 9-11, at the Downtown Chicago Marriott. This year’s conference is titled “FACE-OFF: Dynamic Technologies vs. Regulatory Controls”. It is known as the broadest marketing and advertising law conference in this country which features deep, practical legal content presented from speakers from major brands, inside and outside counsel and regulatory agencies. It also includes some great networking and two large cocktail parties.

Last year’s conference, which I attended, had another record attendance of 750, with over 200 major brands present. I summarized the conference in this post in which I stated that there were two central themes that appeared to be prominent. The first was Real-Time Marketing and how more brands were now starting to put much more effort into connecting their product or service with consumers in the moment. The other central theme was focused on the FTC’s Endorsement & Testimonial Guidelines, which even though not new, there were clear signs that the FTC was starting to heavily monitor the happenings online and on social media. So what insights will this year’s conference generate?

Some of the topics at this year’s conference will again include real time marketing and social as well as explore new technologies. Speakers from Oculus, Twitter, Google, Buzzfeed, Whole Foods, Lyft, Airbnb, Spotify and Microsoft will present. In fact one of the keynotes will be from Jordan McCollum who is general Counsel for Oculus VR. Another keynote will be from the FTC Commissioner Terrel McSweeny who will discuss further the FTC policy and enforcement priorities going forward into next year. Sweeps, contests, gaming, loyalty programs and IP issues will again be discussed. Linda Goldstein from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, the first main speaker who always delivers an exciting and chock full presentation, will review the past year as it relates to those topics.

The last day of the conference will again feature another highly anticipated presentation from Ron Urbach, Chairman of Davis & Gilbert LLP, this year titled “Brand Activation: Law in Review”. At last year’s conference Ron showed us a video he and his team created of a group of fictitious millennials who were using social media and technology to launch new products, and of course, not doing it all legally. Besides the key presentations there will be many break-out sessions and round-table discussions covering many different topics. You can see the whole agenda here.

If you’re interested in attending you should register here quickly since regular pricing will increase after Oct. 10. I’ll be right on Michigan Ave. at the Marriott from Wed. Nov. 9 till Fri., Nov. 11, so make sure to say hello if you’re there. Hopefully I will get a chance to run next door for my annual visit to Nordstrom’s shoe dept!

The Sky’s The Limit Adventure series from Montana Tourism comes to an end with the Painting Glacier sweepstakes

The Big Sky Country stories campaign from The Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development is coming to an end. The campaign was initially launched back in April which I wrote this post about it featuring the Montana’s the Sky’s the Limit Sweepstakes. They launched part 2 of the campaign in July which included The Sky’s the Limit Picnic Sweepstakes.

The last episode in this film series is called Painting Glacier which includes another sweepstakes giving away another Montana adventure. This tourism campaign has focused on telling Montana Big Sky Country stories to draw in visitors. Their short film series features ordinary people who are chasing their own brand of adventure. In this last episode we follow Dennis Farris as he paints his perspective on Glacier National Park, one brush stroke at a time. You can watch the short video about Dennis here.

Day 1 of this adventure you arrive in Kalispell, MT and pick up your rental vehicle at Hertz. You explore downtown Whitefish and have lunch at the Buffalo Cafe. Next you visit Whitefish’s Going to the Sun gallery to view some local art and and then on to the Montana House gallery in Apgar Village. Your first two nights are at the Village Inn with dinner at Eddie’s Cafe and Mercantile for one night and the Glacier Highland Restaurant for the other.

Day 2 you hop on a Red Bus Tour of the West side of Glacier National Park and then have Lunch at Rising Sun’s Two Dog Flats Grill. Day 3 you start with breakfast at Eddie’s Cafe and then drive to Swiftcurrent Lake for an afternoon of boating, hiking or relaxing in the sun. You spend your third night in a cabin at the Swiftcurrent Lake Motor Inn and dine with the rest of camp at Nell’s, the inn’s onsite dining room.

Day 4 your Glacier National Park experience ends with a winding drive along historic Going-to-the-Sun Road to the East side of the park. Along the way are sights including Logan Pass, St Mary Falls and Sunrift Gorge. Dinner is at Many Glacier Hotel where you spend you last night.

There were almost 18,000 entries for the first sweepstakes, Open Road, in which the grand prize was awarded to a Susan Masterson from Winterhaven, Florida. The second sweepstakes, Picnic had over 20,000 entries, and the grand prize was awarded to Ryan Baughan from Lupton, Michigan. So we’ll soon see who is the lucky person to win this last adventure

The Dream Fan Experience Sweepstakes at Camden Yards ends tonight

I am switching over to write about the beginning of the end of the 2016 MLB season from writing about the start of the 2016 NFL season last week. Once the calendar turns to October it will mark the end of the MLB’s regular season, then the start of the playoffs and ultimately the World Series. Now I have to disclose before I go any further that I am a Boston Red Sox fan. I was born in the Bronx and watched many games at Yankee stadium with my Dad, who is the reason why I have become a Red Sox fan. He did not like the “big money” at that time behind the Yankees and it has stuck throughout the years.

So we were extremely happy when the Red Sox swept the Yankees in a four game series that started last Thursday and ended on Sunday at Fenway Park. They came from behind in each game! Now they are in Camden Yards in Baltimore in a four game series against the Orioles who they have been trading first place with in the AL East. The Red Sox won the first two games of the series and are now five games up on the Orioles. The Toronto Blue Jays are right behind them as well at four games behind.

David Ortiz, Big Papi, has been having a tremendous season which he had said is his last. So it would be really special to see the end of his baseball career with a World Series win. Ortiz broke open a tight game last night with a three-run homer in the seventh inning, and Boston beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 for its sixth straight victory.

Big Papi doing what he does best. #LloveTheGame pic.twitter.com/6XiZG52zCi

— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2016

Which brings me to talk about the Dream Fan Experience sweepstakes that we’ve been assisting the Baltimore/Washington DC Ford Dealers run. It coincides with the Orioles home games at Camden Yards, with the first one being on July 22 and tonight, September 21, is the last game that will be promoting the sweepstakes.

Participants enter by attending one of these selected Baltimore Orioles home game and registering for the sweepstakes by proving their contact information and answering a few questions related to Ford via iPads at the Ford Dealers booth. Then they must also take a test drive at a local Baltimore/ Washington DC Ford Dealer at least 48 hours before one of four drawing dates throughout the sweepstakes period. A list of all participating Ford dealers are provided in the rules.

The final drawing will take place on September 24 or 25 and that winner will receive a trip for two people to the Orioles vs. Yankees away series taking place September 30 – October 2. The trip package includes round trip train tickets to New York, 2 night hotel accommodations and two tickets to each of the three games at Yankee Stadium. The prize package is worth $2,500. The other three drawings centered on the Orioles home games and the prize packages included the winner throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, pre-game on-field access experiences, diamond seats, a suite night, a behind the scenes tour and a meet and greet with an Orioles player.

So I won’t be routing for the Orioles tonight, and hopefully that last game series between the Orioles and the Yankees may possibly be only for a Wild Card spot. That is assuming the the Red Sox have clinched the division by then. Right now the Chicago Cubs are the only team that have clinched a playoff spot. A World Series between the Cubs and the Red Sox would be interesting!

NFL sponsors have started running sweepstakes for chances to win tickets to Super Bowl 2017

Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season has begun and now has it’s winners and losers. The teams have 15 more games to play before the playoffs, so all us fans are still fairly hopeful that their team will get there this year. My team, the Buffalo Bills, started with a loss to the Baltimore Ravens and either team didn’t look so good. So I’m still hopeful that they’ll look better. Please!!

In fact the Bills play the Jets this Thursday night which will be the first game that Twitter will live stream. Twitter for the first time is selling ads for a live sporting event. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced back in April, via a tweet, that Twitter had won the rights to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games for the upcoming season. This shocked many in the sports world who thought the NFL would pick another partner, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, or Verizon. So this is a major test this week for Twitter, as well as the Bill and the Jets, who by the way lost their first game as well.

Every new season many companies will run sweepstakes promotions giving away tickets to that year’s Super Bowl. In order to use the NFL and Super Bowl logos and trademarks a company needs to be an official sponsor of the NFL. Many companies will try to get around this by calling it “The Big Game” or something similar, however, the NFL has been policing this more and more each season. We normally get many inquiries from companies that want to run a sweepstakes that offers a chance to win tickets to the Super Bowl and we do ask if they are a sponsor and if not, inform them of this.

Ford is the Official Truck of the NFL and they are running this year The Toughest Ticket sweepstakes and the prize pretty awesome. The grand-prize winner will not only win a VIP trip to the 2017 Super Bowl taking place in Texas. They also win a brand-new 2017 Ford Super Duty truck with a custom NFL design worth $69,000. This sweepstakes is open till January 22, 2017.

I wish everyone a great NFL season and let the best teams win. I’m not going to bet this year on the Bills finally making the playoffs, but I’ll be watching and praying! You never know.

The ‘Ultimate EB PUP STAR’ Sweepstakes promotes Air Bud Entertainment’s newest film with help from Eggland’s Best

Eggland’s Best, one of our new clients, has recently teamed up with Air Bud Entertainment to launch the ‘Ultimate EB PUP STAR’ sweepstakes. This promotion helps to promote Air Bud Entertainment’s newest family film, PUP STAR, which opens in select theaters this week.

From the creators of Air Bud and Air Buddies, this all-new family movie includes 13 original songs and a huge cast of talking and singing dogs. The movie follows the adventure of an adorable Yorkie pup, named Tiny, who finds herself on an action-packed, cross-country journey to compete in the ultimate singing competition for dogs, Pup Star. Finally a movie about a singing competition that has gone totally to the dogs!

Now through September 18th participant’s can visit Eggland’s promotional webpage and click on the link to enter for the chance to win numerous prizes that human and pet members of their family can enjoy together.

Once of the sweepstakes page participant’s will be given the choice of 15 different ways that they can get an entry into the sweepstakes. Some of these ways to enter include watching the EB/Pup Star YouTube video, subscribing to Air Bud TV, visiting Air Bud’s website, signing up for the EB newsletter, visiting Eggland’s Best on their Instagram, Facebook and/or Twitter page and visiting the Myrtle Beach website and/or Facebook page. By entering more than one way, entrants will increase their chances of winning a prize.

One Grand Prize winner will win a pet-friendly family vacation for up to four people to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that includes round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations and a $100 gift card. A total of 81 prizes will be awarded that also include EB Pup Star Prize Packs, Schwinn SmartStart Bicycles and Pawley’s Island Hammocks. “Partnering with Air Bud Entertainment in support of PUP STAR is a natural fit for Eggland’s Best,” said Charlie Lanktree, President and CEO of Eggland’s Best. “Air Bud Entertainment has provided many high-quality, family-friendly films over the years. We prides ourselves in offering customers the highest quality and freshest eggs with better taste and nutrition than ordinary eggs. We do this to help bring the whole family together for delicious meals that everyone will enjoy – even their pets.”

Click on the image below to view the Pup Star Trailer. It’s hard to resist.

PaybyPhone app offers Summer Sweepstakes with chances to win free parking

A trend that we’ve seen this year is implementing sweepstakes into mobile apps. More and more apps have been developed and are being downloaded. So by incorporating a sweepstakes into an app it provides an added incentive for the person to download the app and start using it.

Yahoo’s Flurry anaytics recently showed that 90% of users time on mobile is spent on apps vs. browsers. Of course Facebook and other social media sites take up most of that time, however 10% is on “others”.

One of those “others” is the PaybyPhone App that lets consumers use Apple Pay to pay for parking. We’ve been working with the PaybyPhone Technologies team who are based out of Vancouver, Canada to help them launch the PaybyPhone Summer Sweepstakes. It kicked off on June 23 and will end soon, September 1.

Consumers within the U.S. who use Apple Pay to pay for parking with the PayByPhone app, where available, receive an automatic entry for a chance to win a month of free parking. There is a limit of five entries per day. We also included a mail-in option to enter without purchasing parking.

There were 10 total drawings, with two left, one of August 29 and the last one on September 5. Two winners per drawing will each receive one month of free parking, up to $250, towards their next month’s usage.

In the Apple App Store I searched for parking apps and many options did come up, so there definitely is some competition here. Several are specific to a location such as ParkBoston and ParkDetroit. These apps are just another way that we never need to carry any cash, or change in this case, anymore.

P&G clearly picked a winner in Simone Biles for their 2016 Rio Olympic Games ad camapign

At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics yesterday Simone Biles and Aly Raisman picked up the gold and silver medals respectively in the Women’s Floor final. Simone was untouchable with a score of 15.966 , almost a half-point better than Aly’s 15.5 which was good enough for the silver. Simone brought her total to four golds and five medals in all making her now the most decorated gymnast in US history.

Those who know the floor routine will say that Simone’s third pass makes her superhuman. Gymnasts legs get tired, so their first tumbling passes on the floor routine are usually the most difficult. However, Simone’s third pass is a double twisting double back, which is as hard as many gymnasts’ first pass. Take a look here.

The floor exercise final added to the best medal output for a U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team and also marked the end for the Final Five. This team won nine medals total and broke the record of eight shared by the 1984 and 2008 teams. There is little doubt the U.S. will move forward as the best women’s gymnastics nation and we hope to see more of Simone Biles in the 2020 Olympics.

As I mentioned in my first post about these Olympics, Procter & Gamble’s “Thank You, Mom” ad campaign is back, featuring real Olympic athletes and their moms. Part of this campaign features the “Raising an Olympian: Simone Biles – Rio 2016 Olympic Games” ad that P&G first released back in July of 2016 for their Tide brand. They were smart enough to realize at that time that Simone was going to be a new star. Click on the ad below.

According to Texas Monthly, Simone’s real mother had an addiction problem, and her father was not around. She and her siblings wound up in several foster homes until she was 6, when her maternal grandfather, Ron, and his wife, Nellie, adopted Simone and her younger sister. The girls eventually went from calling them “Grandma and “Grandpa” to “Mom and “Dad”. So Nellie Biles is the mom telling this story in the ad. Simone supposedly speaks to her biological mother, Shanon, over the phone occasionally, but has only seen her a few times since her adoption, and Simone says she feels “like another cousin.”

Here’s the second ad that P&G released as part of the campaign for Tide Pods, which if you were watching the broadcast last night on NBC, you would have seen this.

Simone’s story continues…at the age of 6 during a daycare field trip to a gym, the coaches noticed her imitating the gymnasts and sent her home with a letter encouraging her parents to sign her up for classes. “Gymnastics was not a sport that came to mind that I would have put Simone in in the first place,” Nellie told Us Weekly. “That just came by as an accident, and it was a great accident.” It certainly was! We got to witness what may be the greatest gymnast in the world.

Their are a few days left in the 2016 Olympic Games which will wrap up on Sunday with the Men’s final basketball game that the U.S. is heavily favored for its sixth gold medal. The closing ceremonies that evening will feature the Olympic cauldron being extinguished in Rio as we then look to the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I hope you enjoyed my coverage of the games here.