Expo flyer

Rochelle Morris · January 4th, 2010, 04:58 AM

Hi guys,

We will be partcipating in an expo later this month & will be running a competition. The 2 prizes will be a prize 1 - bluray dvd player & prize 2 - an engagemnt shoot...
Now in reality, the shoot is more value than the player, but the player is more tangible b/c it's a physical commodity.

So, has anyone run a competition before? I need an example of the wordng so would very much appreciate your help - I need to do it this week.

Rochelle

Philip Howells · January 4th, 2010, 05:40 AM

Rochelle

A couple of thoughts based on our experience of giving things away.

1 If the shoot is higher value to the client make it top prize - if you don’t the implication is that your prices are less than the cost of a BD player.

2 Devise ways of ensuring that the winner is a bride/groom and not someone who came in out of the rain.

3 Ensure the winners impose no restrictions on the publicity you derive from the competition, insist they participate without charge.

4 Time limit the prize ie this year, next 12 months etc

5 Make it non-transferable outside immediate family otherwise you risk them selling it at half-price to a real bride.

6 Restrict the warranties on the player to those offered by the retailer. Don’t make yourself liable.

7 We regularly offer a full wedding value £1500 on this basis, it gets top billing at the fair and the organiser directs people to our stand, but it rarely gets taken up. A cynic might say the best of all worlds!

Hope this helps

Rochelle Morris · January 4th, 2010, 06:43 AM

Philip,

fair point - yep, will make engagement shoot 1st Prize.

I'll defintely keep all your pointers in mind as I draft this up - not sure about offering a wedding...always worried it might bite us in the butt :P

thanks so much

Philip Howells · January 4th, 2010, 07:19 AM

Rochelle, I agree. I wasn't intending to tell you what to offer, merely what we'd done in similar circumstances. Good luck.

Rochelle Morris · January 4th, 2010, 02:03 PM

Lol Philip, I never thought that at all...offering a wedding made me think of the possibility - could we do it given that we have such a small team & what if we were already booked on the day? Hence why I'm worried that it would bite me.

I'm very grateful for your pointers...they will help me in layout.

Chris Harding · January 4th, 2010, 05:09 PM

Hi Rochelle

An engagement shoot would probably be better as that doesn't have a fixed date so it can be rescheduled to a free day for you. Weddings are tricky as we book so far ahead!!

I dunno about your side of Oz but here BD players are deemed "low value" goods..dealers are offering them as freebies when you buy a TV so the shoot is a far more valuable prize.

I agree with Phillip on the B&G ..I would make it a condition that entrants ARE engaged and DO have a wedding planned in the next 2 years!!! I would also be careful that they DO reside within your working area ...having to travel to Darwin for an engagement shoot would be costly!!!

Good luck on the competition...let us know how it fares as a marketing tool...I have thought about a "win your wedding free" promotion but never put it into practice....I wonder if anyone else here has actually done what you are doing??? Their experience would be very useful!!

Chris

Rochelle Morris · January 4th, 2010, 05:28 PM

Thanks Chris,

Yep, I'll keep it Melbourne metro to be safe.

Yeah, bluray dvd players are cheap but if I had the choice of winning either, I'd want the player.

I'll let you know how I go - am a little sceptical cause I reckon it works better for photogs - but we'll see

Chris Harding · January 4th, 2010, 07:47 PM

Hi Rochelle

Just a thought?? How about offering the prize to couples that BOOK with you??? That way you are assured that the date cannot be double-booked. The only problem there is IF you offer "Get your wedding absolutely free!" they might have booked your top of the range package which is worth way more than you are willing to give!! Of course, there would be nothing wrong with "Book your wedding and get a chance to win an Engagement Shoot free or a BD player" That way you are guaranteed the the winers ARE getting married and you will get their main business as well???

Last season I tried "giving away" a free 7" photoframe with the couples ceremony video already loaded on an SD card and that had absolutely no interest BUT they loved the idea of a price reduction if they booked in Winter. I think that the BD will take second place to the shoot!!

Chris

Rochelle Morris · January 5th, 2010, 02:52 PM

Thanks Chris,

Hmmmm - the idea od offering a prize to brides who book is ideal, but the concept is to get the leads. In reality, our prices may not attract the average person so we'll need to see how we go. We are having our booth close to a photog colleague this year and are hoping to receive bounce off from them....

Travis Cossel · January 6th, 2010, 06:12 PM

I have a few thoughts to offer on this, but forgive me in advance, goes a bit off topic.

We have hosted contests and given things away at bridal shows in the past and will likely never do it again. We're a high-end studio, and we found that the contests/prizes just seemed to attract a crowd of brides that were not right for our services. In other words, they wanted something for free but would never actually invest with us.

So we stopped doing contests, and we were happy to see it had no effect on our booking success. Now we're back to just letting our work and personalities draw the right people in to our booth.

I'm not saying you shouldn't host a contest, but just make sure you're honest with yourself about how it impacts your bottom line. You might find you don't need to give anything away for free. Good luck!

Rochelle Morris · January 7th, 2010, 03:03 PM

Thanks guys,

taking everyone's thoughts in mind, I've decided to offer the people who book within X weeks the chance to go in the draw. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the clients we want (or will pay us) may be above many of the 'shoppers'. In the past, I had taken names and contact details down when we gave out samples...followed people up and didn't get the success that I would have liked.

I've stuck with the player - why??? Becuase I'm trying to ensure that we balance our time for the worth of the competition - more time in an engagemnet shoot for pre/post & it would be unlikely that they book a higher package.

Again thanks everyone - it sure helps to converse with colleagues when you're stuck with a problem :)

January 4th, 2010, 04:58 AM	#1
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Expo flyer - need help please Hi guys, We will be partcipating in an expo later this month & will be running a competition. The 2 prizes will be a prize 1 - bluray dvd player & prize 2 - an engagemnt shoot... Now in reality, the shoot is more value than the player, but the player is more tangible b/c it's a physical commodity. So, has anyone run a competition before? I need an example of the wordng so would very much appreciate your help - I need to do it this week. Rochelle __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

January 4th, 2010, 06:43 AM	#3
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Philip, fair point - yep, will make engagement shoot 1st Prize. I'll defintely keep all your pointers in mind as I draft this up - not sure about offering a wedding...always worried it might bite us in the butt :P thanks so much __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

January 4th, 2010, 02:03 PM	#5
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Lol Philip, I never thought that at all...offering a wedding made me think of the possibility - could we do it given that we have such a small team & what if we were already booked on the day? Hence why I'm worried that it would bite me. I'm very grateful for your pointers...they will help me in layout. __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

January 4th, 2010, 05:28 PM	#7
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Thanks Chris, Yep, I'll keep it Melbourne metro to be safe. Yeah, bluray dvd players are cheap but if I had the choice of winning either, I'd want the player. I'll let you know how I go - am a little sceptical cause I reckon it works better for photogs - but we'll see __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

January 5th, 2010, 02:52 PM	#9
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Thanks Chris, Hmmmm - the idea od offering a prize to brides who book is ideal, but the concept is to get the leads. In reality, our prices may not attract the average person so we'll need to see how we go. We are having our booth close to a photog colleague this year and are hoping to receive bounce off from them.... __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au

January 4th, 2010, 05:40 AM	#2
Philip Howells Trustee Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 1,212	Rochelle A couple of thoughts based on our experience of giving things away. 1 If the shoot is higher value to the client make it top prize - if you don’t the implication is that your prices are less than the cost of a BD player. 2 Devise ways of ensuring that the winner is a bride/groom and not someone who came in out of the rain. 3 Ensure the winners impose no restrictions on the publicity you derive from the competition, insist they participate without charge. 4 Time limit the prize ie this year, next 12 months etc 5 Make it non-transferable outside immediate family otherwise you risk them selling it at half-price to a real bride. 6 Restrict the warranties on the player to those offered by the retailer. Don’t make yourself liable. 7 We regularly offer a full wedding value £1500 on this basis, it gets top billing at the fair and the organiser directs people to our stand, but it rarely gets taken up. A cynic might say the best of all worlds! Hope this helps

January 4th, 2010, 07:19 AM	#4
Philip Howells Trustee Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 1,212	Rochelle, I agree. I wasn't intending to tell you what to offer, merely what we'd done in similar circumstances. Good luck.

January 4th, 2010, 05:09 PM	#6
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Rochelle An engagement shoot would probably be better as that doesn't have a fixed date so it can be rescheduled to a free day for you. Weddings are tricky as we book so far ahead!! I dunno about your side of Oz but here BD players are deemed "low value" goods..dealers are offering them as freebies when you buy a TV so the shoot is a far more valuable prize. I agree with Phillip on the B&G ..I would make it a condition that entrants ARE engaged and DO have a wedding planned in the next 2 years!!! I would also be careful that they DO reside within your working area ...having to travel to Darwin for an engagement shoot would be costly!!! Good luck on the competition...let us know how it fares as a marketing tool...I have thought about a "win your wedding free" promotion but never put it into practice....I wonder if anyone else here has actually done what you are doing??? Their experience would be very useful!! Chris

January 4th, 2010, 07:47 PM	#8
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Hi Rochelle Just a thought?? How about offering the prize to couples that BOOK with you??? That way you are assured that the date cannot be double-booked. The only problem there is IF you offer "Get your wedding absolutely free!" they might have booked your top of the range package which is worth way more than you are willing to give!! Of course, there would be nothing wrong with "Book your wedding and get a chance to win an Engagement Shoot free or a BD player" That way you are guaranteed the the winers ARE getting married and you will get their main business as well??? Last season I tried "giving away" a free 7" photoframe with the couples ceremony video already loaded on an SD card and that had absolutely no interest BUT they loved the idea of a price reduction if they booked in Winter. I think that the BD will take second place to the shoot!! Chris

January 6th, 2010, 06:12 PM	#10
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	I have a few thoughts to offer on this, but forgive me in advance, goes a bit off topic. We have hosted contests and given things away at bridal shows in the past and will likely never do it again. We're a high-end studio, and we found that the contests/prizes just seemed to attract a crowd of brides that were not right for our services. In other words, they wanted something for free but would never actually invest with us. So we stopped doing contests, and we were happy to see it had no effect on our booking success. Now we're back to just letting our work and personalities draw the right people in to our booth. I'm not saying you shouldn't host a contest, but just make sure you're honest with yourself about how it impacts your bottom line. You might find you don't need to give anything away for free. Good luck! __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

January 7th, 2010, 03:03 PM	#11
Rochelle Morris AVPA Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 373	Thanks guys, taking everyone's thoughts in mind, I've decided to offer the people who book within X weeks the chance to go in the draw. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the clients we want (or will pay us) may be above many of the 'shoppers'. In the past, I had taken names and contact details down when we gave out samples...followed people up and didn't get the success that I would have liked. I've stuck with the player - why??? Becuase I'm trying to ensure that we balance our time for the worth of the competition - more time in an engagemnet shoot for pre/post & it would be unlikely that they book a higher package. Again thanks everyone - it sure helps to converse with colleagues when you're stuck with a problem :) __________________ Preface Films - The Boss www.prefacefilms.com.au EDU www.exposeddownunder.com.au