Category: Blog

The most popular time of year for people to get engaged to be married is Christmas time. Giving that special ring as a gift to the one your love as well as couples starting their wedding plans are pretty common occurrences during the holiday season. We’ve been assisting Sandals resorts for the last few years in helping to make couple’s dreams come true with their annual 12 Days of Sandals Giveaway Sweepstakes.

This year the promotion begins Friday, December 12 and runs for 12 days to Christmas Eve. Each day Sandals will offer one lucky person a chance to win that day’s prize with the Grand Prize being offered on the last day. Participants can enter this year’s Sweepstakes by first either following Sandals on Twitter or Instagram. Sandals will post daily on both social media platforms during the Sweepstakes Period. Participants can obtain one Sweepstakes entry for that day by either tweeting or commenting a correct or proper response to that day’s post or question from Sandals. All posts must include the hashtag, “#12DaysofSandals”.

The Grand Prize will be a Sandals Wedding Moon Package which includes a 6 day/5 night wedding and honeymoon at a Sandals resort of the winner’s choice. The Grand Prize winner can choose a package that includes a Wedding Ceremony or a Renewal of Vows Ceremony. The total package is valued between $8,500 – $9,000.

The other daily prizes range from a selection of bridal gowns to choose from along with gift certificates good toward the purchase of wedding stationary and other towards jewelry. The chatter on Twitter has already begun with many waiting to enter this year’s #12DaysofSandles daily giveaway. Sandals posted this photo of last year’s winner on their Twitter page. Good luck to all who enter this year.

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.

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.

I will be headed back to Chicago next week to attend the Annual BAA/PMA Marketing Law Conference which has been taking place there each November since I can remember.  This year’s conference is titled Navigating the Marketing Law Maze and runs November 5-7.  The conference includes over 50 sessions and 120 different speakers who will share their knowledge and provide a unique educational experience on marketing law not found any where else.

This year’s agenda will again bring major brand marketers, senior inside and outside counsel along with top government regulators together to present legal guidance and give their practical advice. The conference will address a broad array of legal regulations and guidelines facing the industry today on subjects such as: social media, digital media, online behavior advertising, domestic and international promotion, sweepstakes, contests and games, BIG DATA, data security/breach, privacy, intellectual property and litigation. It makes your head start to spin just by mentioning all those subjects in one sentence!

The conference kicks off with a pre-conference networking reception on Nov. 5th that includes a welcome cocktail party not to be missed, along with another party the following evening. They are both great networking opportunities like nowhere else to meet with hundreds of legal experts and those in similar businesses as myself. The first general session on Thursday morning will again feature Linda Goldstein from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, who will cover Key Legal Developments in Marketing/Advertising Law Affecting Sweepstakes, Contests, Privacy, Disclosure & Digital/Social Media. Linda’s presentation is always extremely informative and highly entertaining as well.  What she shares in this session is thought of as the bible that we in the industry will follow till the next time she presents.

Here is a video that the BAA created that includes some footage from last year’s conference and features some words from Linda Goldstein.

A special keynote presentation on Friday morning will include Carine Roman who is Head of Global Advertising at LinkedIn. Carine’s presentation is titled Demystifying the Advertising Landscape: Programmatic Buying, Data/Privacy, Targeting and the “Fortune Cookie” World of On-Line & Mobile Space. So that should be a highly interesting session as well.

We’ll all be at the Downtown Chicago Marriott right on Michigan Ave. It is located right next to Nordstrom so I will just have to make my annual shopping visit to their shoe department on the first floor! Hope to see some of you in Chicago. You can register here.

On November 4th Americans will be going to the polls to vote for the 2014 midterm elections. This is where we get to make our choices for members of the Senate, House of Representatives, governors and other elected positions around the country, accept for the office of the President. All 435 House members are up for re-election, while there are 36 Senate races and 36 governors’ races.

The past few weeks we’ve been working with the team that represents Why Tuesday?, a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 with a goal to help find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections. In hopes of getting the word out that our voting system is broken and to increase this year’s voter turnout they have just launched the Let’s Fix It Challenge for a chance at winning $64,000!

Voter turnout for midterm elections are always lower than during a Presidential election. How low will they be this year is the $64,000 question. The Why Tuesday? 2014 Challenge invites participants to predict what percentage of the voting eligible population will vote this Election Day. The promotional website  includes these hints from past years: 2002, 39.5%, 2006, 40.4% and 2010. 41.0%. As a tie-breaker, participants are also required to predict the number of Americans who will vote (Hint: 2002 – 80,295,249; 2006 – 85,769,132; 2010 – 90,745,3989. The source for these numbers can be found at www.electproject.org.

Once participants make their predictions they also have to fill in their name and contact information and submit all the required information. They are encouraged to share the Let’s Fix It Challenge on their social platforms and to spread the word about our broken election system. Participants can then also visit fixit.whytuesday.org and sign up to help do something about it!

If by chance that there is still a tie as to both the Turnout Prediction and the Total Vote, then the $64,000 Grand Prize will be divided among the tying eligible Participants. So take the challenge, include your best prediction and help get the word out. Don’t forget to vote on November 4th!. Maybe we can get more people to the polls this year than in 2010.

The pink ribbon symbols can be seen in many promotions during October since it is breast cancer awareness month when many marketers and brands tie their products and services to the cause. I usually dedicate a least one “PINK” post to highlight some of the brands and organizations that have been supporting the cause. So this year I have a special program to share with you.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month the Avon Foundation for Women recently launched a powerful PSA featuring an exciting new music video created with and by Paula Abdul. The daughter of Gene Cairo, the President of American Sweepstakes Company,  was heavily involved in the production of this music video. Alex Cairo, who is a young and up and coming copywriter at an agency working with Avon, wrote the lyrics which were chosen for the song Check Yourself, part of the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade.

The Avon #CheckYourself campaign focuses on these four ways that women can participate:

1. Watch the video and support the global movement by sharing on Facebook and Twitter and here on their Facebook page.

2.  Educate friends about breast cancer by creating your own dance video, sharing it on Facebook with the #CheckYourself hashtag, and challenging three friends!  Women can learn some dance moves from Paul Abdul here on this Pinterest board created to help them copy the movies in the video.

3. Donate to the Avon Foundation or purchase an Avon Pink Ribbon product here.