Winning -- or Losing -- at Branded Sweepstakes Promotions

I have created some exciting sponsored promotions in my careeramp160from a sweepstakes for Gallo wine and Food Network that sent a winner to a pro stadium for a game of catch and private barbecue with NFL players to giving a winner a trip to the Classic Rock Awards and a Gibson guitar autographed by every rock legend imaginable amp160I learned the value of brand lift generated by the excitement associated with great prizesamp160and after working with promotion law experts like those at Manatt the imperative for scrupulous legal and compliant copy amp160But this time I was on the receiving end of the excitement I was a finalist in an Air Francesponsored sweepstakes to promote its chefcreated cuisine amp8230 and forgot my brand lessons until it was almost too lateLast week a friend and I came across a popup photo display in New York City collecting entries and data of course of those who posed for then socially shared a very cool panoramic superimposing the entrant in Paris France amp160As a Francophile she begged me to stop and enter not just quotenter to winquotamp160by the way but as a promotion lawyer would advise quotenter for a chance to winquot amp160It required jumping through many social media hoops to enter but I agreed if only because I would enjoy the guaranteed prize of a free macaron after entering amp160The grand prize amp160An invitation to a gourmet dinner in New York the following weekend where one attendee would get whisked away that very same night for a business class flight on Air France to quotParis for Dessertquot amp160It was a brief twonight stay but at a luxury hotel and a meal at a Michelinrated restaurantOne can dream right amp160But I actually woke up to an Instagram DM from the producer that I was a finalist amp160Then I had just a few hours to quickly identify my quotplus onequot and include both of our passport expiration dates on the eligibility form amp160Hands shaking I of course quickly called my good friend the Francophile to see if she wanted to be my guest for the prize she so desperately had wanted to win only to discover her passport was expired amp160With the clock ticking I had to find someone flexible enough to drop everything for a Saturday dinner and the chance they might not be home again until Tuesday amp160I trusted I could spring this news on my understanding MediaVillagecom bosses and work veryamp160remotely for a couple of days but that apparently is not the norm for my sister beau nephew or bffs amp160Finally a plucky pal agreed the form was sent and I was confirmed for dinner at a Mulberry Street locationAnd then it dawned on me in my distracted excitement as a finalist or in promotionally compliant language quotpotential winnerquot that even the savvy promotion marketer I am hadn39t read more than the brief rules at the entry point amp160But where were the complete rules amp160Hmmmamp160 Let the marketing reminders beginRule 1amp160amp160A complete set of rules must be easily foundamp160 After searching the promotion page linked from the Paris for Dessert Instagram bio but finding nothing I did a search and discovered there were several other executions of the sweepstakes that had much easier entry methods think submit just an email and zip code easy amp160Then I tried the Air France Facebook promotions page amp160And finally but uhoh Rule 2amp160amp160Don39t cannibalize the positive consumer excitement factor with consumer pissoff factors amp160Guess which gets more attention via word of mouth amp160I discovered that the Approximate Retail Value of the prize quotARVquot was 22000 amp160Whaaa amp160Air France New York to Paris rack rate business class tickets last week were going for around 6500 each amp160Hotel for only two nights and even a really good meal couldn39t add up to another 10K could it amp160Caveat winner amp160Remember who has to pay the income tax on 22K amp160The winner and at say a 30 tax bracket that means a potential 7K to Uncle Sam for a quotfreequot twonight trip to Paris amp160There was one mitigating factor The version of rules I found said the prize could be used within a year versus only spontaneously at the upcoming dinner amp160That meant perhaps if I could extend my trip or even opt for lesser face value airfare more than two nights in Paris might justify the tax implication amp160Sometimes to keep the consumer happy the marketer will offer that flexibility and winners should always try to negotiateRule 3amp160amp160Be clear Be kind Be thorough amp160Promotion administrators become the brand face to the consumer and must know the promotion inside and out amp160While I was very impressed by the rapid and pleasant responses I was getting from the marketing team via Instagram Direct Message not so much for clear consistent info amp160At that point I was told the rules for the Instagram promotion were different from those for Facebook and was finally sent a PDF of a neverbeforeseen version for Instagram entrants amp160These had an ARV of 18000 because I deciphered it included a lowercost hotel but did not offer the one year of travel flexibility requiring a samenight departure as the dinner amp160quotWhere online are those rulesquotamp160I DM39d amp160quotWe put them in one of the comments in an Instagram postquot came the reply amp160There were hundreds of comments amp160That aside the only place where hyperlinks work on Instagram are in the bio not the commentsRule 4 amp160Know the rulesamp160 Don39t use online sweepstakes rule templates or inhouse counsel more used to negotiating employment contracts amp160Invest in a promotion law specialistConfused yet amp160Me too amp160As a result I decided to avoid a tax liability and opted to just attend the dinner amp160Fourteen other finalists practically too excited to eat showed up with suitcases and passports in tow ready to be the one whisked away if their Paris number was up lucky stiff Momentarily envious I focused instead on an amazingly wellproduced evening of caviar champagne andamp160an exquisite Daniel Bouludcreated menu all in a wonderfully recreated luxury flight complete with virtual reality videos of sky and cityscape from the quotportholesquot amp160I knew I39d be sleeping in my own bed instead of a reclining plane seat that night so I relaxed over a flight of expensive wine accompanying my fourcourse meal amp160So brand promoters for sweet success in sweepstakes activations do your diligence amp160For me Paris can wait as there is no such thing as a completely free dessertClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Winning -- or Losing -- at Branded Sweepstakes Promotions

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