Sync Marketing: 4th of July Sweepstakes and Contests

By: Julie Link | In: Contests, Marketing, Sweepstakes

Happy 4th of July everyone! In celebration of America’s Independence, we want you to get some Independence of your own! How about some cash to buy that car you have always wanted or how about a trip to the Caribbean? Below we list out some of the best 4th of July Sweepstakes and Contests to help you get your Independence.

Xome Home Remodel Sweepstakes

Get some freedom to decorate your home the way you want in Xome’s latest sweepstakes! Youc ould win $25,000 tor emodel your home.

Valpak Great American Giveaway

Nothing screams 4th of July more than The Great American Giveaway from Valpak. Enter now for your chance to win a trip to our nation’s capitol.

We here at Sync wish everyone a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!

Fooled or Not? Steps to take if you have been told you won a sweepstakes or contest

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes

In honor of April Fool’s Day, I wanted to shed some insight on how to determine if you’re being “fooled” or not when you receive a call informing you that you’re a potential winner of a sweepstakes or contest. Many times when we call consumers to inform them that they have been selected as a potential prize winner, they’re often skeptical at first, which is completely understandable. Even though they took the time to enter, not many people really expect to actually win a prize.  At Sync, we take many steps on our end to make sure potential winners feel comfortable and do everything we can to assure them that the sweepstakes or contest is legit, but here are some things to consider if and when you receive this type of call.

1. Do you remember entering the sweepstakes or contest? If not, make sure that the caller tells you the exact name of the sweepstakes and the company running the promotion.  Once you have this information, look it up for yourself and see if it rings a bell.

2. Who is calling you? Is it the company that ran the sweepstakes or a marketing agency, like Sync Marketing, who was the administrator? If it is in fact an agency, be sure to look them up as well and ask for a link to or a copy of the Official Rules to be sure they are the administrator of the promotion.

3. If they are telling you that the prize you have won is $600 or more, expect to receive a W9 form. This isn’t a scam, but a requirement to report this to the IRS since you will be receiving prize winnings of $600 or more.

4. If you receive a W9 form, expect to also receive an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release Form that details your prize. Make sure that the details of the prize and total ARV match the prize description in the Official Rules.

In the age of identity theft, it is understandable that one should be cautious, but once you’ve taken the steps to look into the legitimacy of the sweepstakes or contest for yourself, you should be confident that you are not being fooled before you provide any information. 

What is the Difference Between a Sweepstakes and a Contest and Which One Should I Run?

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Marketing, Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

What is the difference between a sweepstakes and a contest? This is one of the most common questions we’re asked when working with companies or agencies who are planning to run these types of promotions for the first time. Today I am going to break down the differences between sweepstakes and contests as well as discuss which one will work best for your next promotion.

First off, what is a sweepstakes? If you were to look up the actual definition you would find that the word has many different meanings, but the following is Sync Marketing’s definition: A sweepstakes is a game of chance in which consumers are asked to provide basic information about themselves to be entered into a prize drawing. Most importantly, potential winners are selected in a random drawing. After the names are drawn, they are notified and then verified before being announced an official winner. In a sweepstakes, there can be no consideration for entry and winner selection must be completely random.

Now, what is a contest? Sync Marketing’s definition is as follows: A contest is a game of skill, where entrants are asked to complete a measurable task that is judged and scored. For example, this could be anything from a video contest featuring consumers’ pets doing their best trick, an Instagram photo contest asking entrants to submit their favorite wedding planning moment, or a Pinterest contest requiring entrants to create a board of what they think would be their dream vacation.  In a contest, the judging criteria must be clearly defined for the entrants in the Official Rules. About.com also has a nice breakdown of the differences between a sweepstakes and a contests.

So how do you determine when you should run a sweepstakes vs. a contest?

Good question! You should run a sweepstakes when your goal is to reach and engage the masses with the purpose of promoting your product or service, gather email opt-ins, and collect basic consumer data. Of course, the number of entries you receive and the popularity of your promotion will be based on a few factors; how strongly it’s promoted, the ease of entry and the value of your prizes to the consumer. For more information on what types of prizes to give away see my post here. When you run a sweepstakes expect to receive a lot more entries than if you were to run a contest, and if you provide social share it has the possibility to spread like wildfire.

You should run a contest when your goal is to create PR buzz, gather user-generated content, and gain and reward consumers who are truly invested in your brand or service.  If you’re giving away an international trip to a grand opening of a new store, maybe consider running a contest in which entrants are asked to upload a video of why they deserve to be at the grand opening. To further reinforce consumer interaction, have the top 10 judged videos posted online for consumers to vote for their favorite. You can then ask for publicity releases from the top 10 entrants and use those videos on your website and social media accounts to continue to promote your brand. Also, by asking for entrants to take the time to create and submit a video as a condition of entry, you know you’re going to award the prize to someone who truly wants to go on the trip!

Regardless of whether you want to run a sweepstakes or contest, please consider calling Sync Marketing to help you plan and execute your next promotion. You can find a full list of our sweepstakes and contest services here.

Sync Marketing’s Year in Review – 2014

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Facebook, Instagram, Marketing, Sweepstakes, Twitter, User Generated Content

2014 was a fantastic year for Sync Marketing that seemed to come and go in a blink of an eye. Not only was it a year of change for Sync Marketing, but a year of growth. Here’s Sync Marketing’s year in review:

A lot of “new” for Sync Marketing

Not only did we design a new logo, we also launched a brand new website which showcases our services, work, and introduces our co-founders, Jennifer French and myself, Julie Link. We were also fortunate to work on some really fun and exciting campaigns for a variety of new clients. Click here to “meet” some of our new clients.

Sync Marketing is now an award-winning agency

We were honored to take home the Silver in the Best Use of Game, Contests and Sweepstakes at the Chief Marketer 2014 PRO Awards. The competition was definitely tough. Jennifer French and myself attended the annual awards last June in New York City, and were able to meet the Senior Editor and Promotions Awards Director of Chief Marketer and other amazing colleagues in the field.

Sync got Social with Claire’s

Social media sweepstakes were huge this year and Sync Marketing ran everything from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest sweepstakes. As CBI’s agency of record, Sync Marketing helped Claire’s stores increase their social media presence in 2014. One of the most notable promotions we ran with them this year was in support of the launch of the Katy Perry’s Prism collection, which you can learn more about here.

We’re excited to see what 2015 has in store and we will continue to share our updates with you throughout the year!

Holiday Sweepstakes 2014

By: Julie Link | In: Contests, Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

It’s safe to say that the holidays are one of the most popular times of year to market a product or service. There are many different avenues to take when targeting consumers, but sweepstakes and contest are an effective way to break through the clutter. Running an online sweepstakes or contest allows you to interact with your consumers, gather relevant consumer data, collect user-generated content and reward them for interacting with YOU this holiday season. Here are a few of our favorite holiday sweepstakes and contests of the season:

Office Depot Holiday Cheer Challenge Sweepstakes

Office Depot is spreading cheer this year with their holiday challenge sweepstakes. Entrants are encouraged to share merry moments with their friends and family to earn cheer points!  The more points you earn the more chances you have to win great prizes, included a $100 office depot gift card or the grand prize pack. Plus, while you are there don’t miss out on the ever-popular Elf Yourself feature. This sweepstakes challenge is administered by Sync Marketing. Sweepstakes ends 1/10/15 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Claire’s #putabowonit Sweepstakes

Enter Claire’s #putabowonit Instagram Sweepstakes for a chance to win a holiday shopping spree for you and your besties! Weekly prizes will also be awarded. Ends 12/17/14 at 11:59 p.m. ET, so enter now! This sweepstakes is administered by Sync Marketing.

Dave’s $100,000 Baby Steps Giveaway Sweepstakes

Dave Ramsey is giving away a ton of cash prizes, some worth up to $15,000 in the Dave’s $100,000 Baby Steps Giveaway Sweepstakes! Enter now for your chance to win!

TJ Maxx’s Holiday Sparkle Sweepstakes

Bling bling! Enter TJ Maxx’s Holiday Sparkle Sweepstakes for a chance to win a diamond necklace worth nearly $15,000, that will definitely brighten your holiday season!

The bottom line is that sweepstakes are all about giving and receiving and we can’t think of a better time to run a sweepstakes than during the most giving time of the year. We here at Sync Marketing wish you all a very happy holiday season!

Sweepstakes Prizing – What to Give Away

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes

It seems these days that everyone is getting in on the fun by running online sweepstakes and contests. That’s because it’s an extremely effective way of not only gathering consumer data, but rewarding consumers in return.  Today, I am going to focus on the best part; the prizing, and the most effective sweepstakes prizing recommendations for your next promotion.

1. Money, money, money: Everyone loves cash. If you choose to award cash as your prize, make sure it’s a significant amount, as with all prizing, winners are taxed on anything over $600. If you choose to go the cash route, it is recommended to always relate the cash prizes back to your product. Take Don’t Touch My Dart: The Sweepstakes…Here, Chrysler gave away $10,000 for the winner to use as they wish, but in the creative and official rules they promoted it as money to be used towards the purchase or lease of a new Dodge Dart.
2. The once-in-a-lifetime experience prize: Awarding your winners with a prize they cannot buy is the ultimate prize. Whether it’s to a red carpet event or a VIP back stage pass; offering prizing that is not available to the general public will allow you to receive entries from consumers who are truly interested in your prize and the exclusive experience.
3. A trip: Pretty much everyone loves to travel, so a trip is a great way to entice consumers to enter. Just be sure to include all of the critical trip elements; airfare, hotel, transportation, and spending money/money for taxes. And, of course, relate it back to your product or service.
4. Your product or service; Giving away an iPad is great, but if it doesn’t relate to your product or service, then you might not be getting the type of entrants you want as well as the fact that the promotion will seem disjointed. If you offer a fantastic service, give consumers the chance to win that particular service free for a year. Or, if it’s a product, why not offer gift cards or a prize pack containing your promoted items?
5. Many prizes. It’s always important to give one larger grand prize, but if you want entrants to feel like they have a true shot at winning, consider giving away several smaller prizes. 

Most importantly, make sure that the prize-winning experience is extremely enjoyable and stress-free for your consumers. By hiring an agency like Sync Marketing to handle your sweepstakes prize fulfillment, you can rest assured that your winners will understand all of the details of their prize and will be taken care of all the way until tax season. For a full list of Sync Marketing’s prize fulfillment offerings, please take a look at our Legal and Prize Fulfillment page, here.

The Benefits of Running an Instagram Promotion

By: Julie Link | In: Best Practices, Contests, Instagram, Legal and Prize Fulfillment, Sweepstakes, User Generated Content

Social media has come a long way in the past several years and it has become a fantastic tool for companies and brands to promote their products and/or services. We have found that Instagram is an extremely useful and effective platform to run promotions for brands looking to increase their visibility and their connections with their consumers. Today I’m going to cover the benefits of running an Instagram promotion.

If your key demo is between the ages of 13-24, an Instagram sweepstakes or contest is a great way to grow your follower base. Typically during a promotion, entrants are asked to follow and tag your brand in order to enter as well as include a specific hashtag that relates to the sweepstakes or contest. By asking entrants to take these steps, you are instantly increasing your visibility and creating user-generated content. Speaking of UGC; Instagram is all about sharing experiences and passions through photos. Running an Instagram sweepstakes or contest is a simple yet effective way to ask your consumers to express themselves, all while giving you the possibility of collecting meaningful and visually-interesting user generated content. Sync Marketing recently ran a successful Instagram sweepstakes for their client CBI specifically for their Claire’s division. Learn more about it here.

Although it all seems easy enough to orchestrate, it’s highly recommended that you hire an agency who specializes in sweepstakes and contest law to handle the legal portion of your campaign. Not only does promotion law change on a daily basis (bye bye Facebook likegate), but hiring an agency to produce the official rules and necessary winner release forms is an investment that is absolutely worth it to protect your company from possible infractions due to these changes. Sync Marketing has a knowledgeable and experienced team that can walk you through the process of running an Instagram photo sweepstakes or contest and will provide you with all of the legal elements to ensure a successful and legally-compliant promotion. We even check all social media posts and marketing materials to make sure your program is consistent and correct from a legal and customer service standpoint.

Contact us today is you’re interested in running an Instagram sweepstakes or contest! 323.596.7962.

PaleyFest 2014 Featuring AMC’s Mad Men

By: Julie Link | In: Advertising, Television

Several members of the Sync Marketing team had the opportunity to attend the PaleyFest this year, and it did not disappoint. From the location at the world famous Dolby Theatre, a panel discussion featuring the cast of Mad Men, to the very dedicated fans who swarmed the stage before the moderator was even finished with his closing monologue; it was definitely a night to remember.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the PaleyFest, here’s a brief description directly from the Paley Center website:

The William S. Paley Television Festival, founded in 1984, is an extraordinary interactive pop culture event produced by The Paley Center for Media that connects fans with the casts and creators of their favorite series. Named for the founder of both the Paley Center and CBS, PaleyFest is two weeks of events where the audience sees episodes or highlights of the featured work followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the cast and creative team.

If you have a favorite television series, and that series just so happens to be featured in the PaleyFest, this is the event for you. Not only were we sitting in one of the most beautiful theaters which is filled with so much culture, history, and now home to the most retweeted selfie of all time, but we were sitting there watching the season six finale of arguably one of the best shows in television history on the big screen. Once you’ve viewed your favorite show like that, it’s hard to go back to watching it on your couch, believe me!

After the episode ended, the moderator came back out and introduced the cast. From there began an hour-long question and answer session. It’s very similar to the Actor’s Studio, but instead of an audience filled with college students, you have an audience filled with martini sipping Mad Men fans. Sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?

Sunday, April 13th marks the 7th and final season premiere for Don Draper, Peggy Olsen and the characters of Mad Men, and you can be sure that the Sync Marketing team will be tuned in and ready to see how this exciting advertising show will end.

What goes into creating the perfect logo?

By: Julie Link | In: Contests, Marketing, Sweepstakes

Well, based on my recent experience, a lot should (or needs to) go into creating the perfect logo. So when Sync decided to change its logo, it wasn’t an easy task. You know when you look at something for too long it begins to look strange? Or when you say a word over and over again it doesn’t even sound like a real word anymore? Try it. Say, “orange…orange. orange. orange.” Try saying that out loud twenty more times. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? That’s what choosing a new logo felt like at times.

I knew we wanted some sort of icon along with the text of our company name, but wasn’t sure how it would all come together. Because it had to be unique, but not weird, it had to make sense. Am I even making sense? After reviewing about 200 logos, came this circular icon. When I saw it, I actually felt something. I felt movement and synergy, which is something that I think defines our agency. We are in constant movement researching and staying up-to-date on all the latest changes in the marketing field. We pride ourselves on bringing our ideas to life while making the client feel like we’re a part of their team. So with that, our icon was born.

Next, came the colors. Not only do I like the colors, but I enjoy seeing two colors blend into one. It feels very left brain right brain to me. Sync also has two owners, with which the blending of the colors offers a great visual representation of that fact. In addition came the meaning behind the colors. Magenta, blue and purple are assigned a lot of different meanings, but the words that really stood out to me were; trustworthy, loyal and reliable for magenta, caring and balanced for blue, and imaginative for purple. All adjectives that Sync Marketing represents. For example, we are always there for our clients day or night, we take real pride in our work, and love the ideation phase of a project.

Last came the font. We strive to provide unparalleled services like no other company, so why not have a font that is also like no other company? Once we selected the two fonts we wanted to use, we tweaked them ever so slightly so that no one else would have that combination of letters appear the same.

So what goes into creating the perfect logo? A lot of thinking, passion, Google searching, blinking, “step away”-ing, and love. A whole lotta love. We hope you enjoy our logo as much as we do.