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Bruce Hollander
Executive Vice President
Don Jagoda Associates
(631) 454-1800
A true expert in the area of Sweepstakes, Contests and Games,Bruce has worked with hundreds of companies on thousands of promotions during his over 25 years at DJA. His expertise lies not only in developing the right promotion, but seeing that it runs flawlessly and with the least disruption to existing client operations. This becomes invaluable particularly in the areas of in or on-pack Instant Winner Games where integration with existing production, packaging and distribution systems is critical, and for on-line games, where integration with client IT is a must. So if its a "How do you? Why do you? or "Why can't you?" question about Sweepstakes, Contests, or Games...ask Bruce...He's the Expert!
Liability for prize distribution
Posted by alan on August 14, 2008
What requirement, if any, is there regarding the distribution of all prizes in a match piece sweepstakes?
The promotion should clearly state in the rules what will happen to any unclaimed prizes after the claim date. Typical options are"unclaimed prizes will not be awarded" or all ( or certain levels) of unclaimed prizes will be awarded in a second chance random drawing. It is the responsibility of the administrator to follow whichever option is selected.
True story
Posted by alan on July 29, 2008
Not too many years ago Kodak ran a match piece contest that I knew could not produce winners.(One doesn’t by rolls of film like hamburgers) It had a million dollar prize structure. I wrote for the winners list. One winner. Some guy in Ohio won a TV. Couldn’t find him listed in a people search.
It still bugs me that someone sold Kodak a bill of goods and Kodak was stupid enough to buy it. I thought it was illegal to not award all prizes. I also wrote to Kodak and got no response.
Sorry this promotion upset you so much. Not really sure what your question is, but I would say that the game would be legal if the Rules disclosed that all prizes may not be awarded. Sponsors have a choice of conducting a second chance drawing an awarding unclaimed prizes or just awarding the claimed prizes. The Rules should indicate which approach Kodak took.
Programmed Learning Sweepstakes for Trade
Posted by Edward from Laguna Beach, CA, US on July 24, 2008
We support online Brand and Product training sites for our clients - primarily directed at the Retail Sales Associates who sell their products through independent Retailers.
Some have offered promotions - ie pass a course (short course and quiz) and be entered into a drawing for a free product to drive use.
Do Programmed Learning Sweepstakes like this for Trade have different (simpler rules) than consumer focused?
I would think that the "Trade" rules are usually simpler, therefore shorter. They usually involve less valuable prizes , simpler prize structures and less extensive liability language , so less description is needed. Additionally, trade sweeps don't have to be registered or bonded.
Duration and location
Posted by G from NYC, NY, US on June 29, 2008
A few quick questions:
Regarding duration of a sweepstakes, could the end of the sweeps be contingent on a milestone being reached (10 million registered members of a social networking site or 25 million visitors to a site) or does the law require a specific closing date be set?
Follow up: could a closing date be set with a milestone alternative and “Whichever comes first”?
Location query
If a website is headquartered in one state but the site’s sales page payments are processed via online service (Paypal, Google Checkout, etc) to a bank in a different state, which state law governs the sweepstakes? Note, obviously no purchase is required for sweeps entry.
Thanks
A few quick answers:
--When a sweepstakes requires registration we use a specific end date. If no registration were required, then you'd have a bit more leeway , but we'd give consumers the ability to track how close we were to the end... something like a graph or pie-chart would do.
--The feeling here is that the State were the company is Headquartered governs.
Duration of a sweepstakes
Posted by James from lawrence, KS, US on May 20, 2008
I am putting together our companies first large scale sweeps. Is there a method to determine length?
There are many factors you haven't revealed to me that would affect my recommendation on the length of your sweeps:
What are your objectives in running the promotion?
What are you promoting... is it a product or service?
If a product, what's the distribution time, shelf life,purchase frequency?
Any seasonality?
Are you tied into any event?
What's the theme?
What are the prizes?
How/how often is it going to be communicated?
Email me if you'd like to have a follow up call. I'd be glad to discuss this critical area with you...