Interactive

I always recommend marketers seek professional advice from companies that are specialized in sweepstakes/contest administration. The risks of something going wrong in a promotion are significant, ranging from budget overruns and legal costs to regulatory investigations (even lawsuits) and PR crisis. Promotions require a lot of detailed planning and legal/regulatory know-how. In my experience, marketers always receive a better return on their promotional investment by getting the experts involved right at the outset.

With that in mind, two websites I would recommend looking into are the Canadian Competition Bureau (www.competitionbureau.gc.ca) for Canada-wide guidelines and the Regie des Alcools, des Courses et des Jeux (www.racj.gouv.qc.ca) for Quebec-specific regulations.

Thanks for the question. While sports promotions are not my field of expertise, I’ll certainly attempt to guide you in the right direction.
One option would be to create a point-system whereby participants are awarded points based on attending games or purchasing specific products. For example, I’m personally a big fan of the ‘Diamondbacks MVP Rewards Program’, a loyalty program offered by the Arizona Diamondbacks, a Major League Baseball team. The program is structured such that participants accumulate points based on every dollar spent on game tickets and on purchases from participating sponsors (both online and at retail locations). These points are accumulated and can then be redeemed for rewards as simple as team hats and jerseys or as elaborate as sitting in the press box for an inning or even throwing out the first pitch of a baseball game.
With this set-up, season-ticket holders automatically accumulate more points by virtue of spending more money on tickets. However, even single-game ticket buyers are eligible for the program. The more games they attend, the more points they get and the more attractive prize they become eligible for.
You can check it out here: http://mvp.diamondbacks.com

This is a great question and there may be several promotional tactics you can use. Two key factors that will influence your decision is budget, of course, and your target market characteristics. While I can’t endeavor to answer these questions in this forum, a variety of promotional incentives are used to drive sales in a retail environment. Promotions such as sweepstakes, instant wins and scratch and wins are all effective ways of inciting purchase. Customers receive either an entry or chance to play and win when they purchase a product. They are all capable of being delivered via interactive media.

Website: Upon purchase, customers receive an online access code or PIN. Once registered (by entering name, address etc – thus building a database), registrants could enter into a sweepstakes, instant-win or chance game for the chance to win “must-have” prizes.

SMS: Upon purchase, customers receive a mobile short code which allows them to enter and/or play via their cell phone. Note that mobile promotions typically form part of a larger integrated promotion. Generally, access to a promotion is not exclusively mobile, but rather mobile and online (or other means.) Given the costs and time associated with set-up and integration of a mobile promotion, it may not be the right solution for you.

IVR (telephone interactive voice response): Upon purchase, customers can dial-in for the chance to win right on the spot. This is a great way to generate excitement right in your retail locations.

There are lots of options in retail promotion. Most are supported by Point of Purchase materials and other marketing activities. My advice to you would be to really think about your customer: what prizes would entice them? What game best suits them (i.e. instant prizes or chance to win higher-valued prizes)? Are they on their cell phone more than their home PC? Understanding the key characteristics of your target audience will aid your discussions with an interactive promotion provider.

I did some quick searching on the web and found that the Motion Picture Association of America (www.mpaa.org) offers numerous statistical reports available for free download. Among them, a 2005 Theatrical Market Statistics Report and a 2005 Movie Attendance Study.

I did not publish the actual transcript of the email you include, but it has scam written all over it. Apart from the obvious red flags (i.e. the poor grammar, spelling mistakes, vague promotion name), let me ask some basic questions:
1. Why would the ‘Promotion Manager’ of this company use a yahoo.com e-mail address is company communications?
2. What is the point of having a ‘secret’ promotion?
3. How do you win a contest you never entered?

Unfortunately, this type of scam is all too common. I would recommend you delete this email from your inbox immediately. While the sender is not asking for any money at the moment, he is asking you for personal information (i.e. phone number, address). Should you respond to this, you’ll most likely receive further communications asking for money at some point.
The reality is that if it seems to good to be true, it usually is.