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January 2012 Round-Up: Top Contests

February 2nd, 2012 Julie Foley No comments

As you can see from the top contests of January, the pro football season and the “big game” taking place Sunday, February 6th, is on everyone’s mind. The ever popular “Cutest Kids” and “Cutest Pets” made quite a few appearances in this list. If you haven’t planned for running both of those contests, be sure to add them to your list now!

Top 10 Registrations
1. Journal Sentinel‘s Packers Fan Hall of Fame
2. KXLT-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest
3. WXMI-TV’s Win an iMac
4. WCVQ-FM’s Q Wedding Giveaway
5. WLUK-TV’s Bridgeport Waterfront Resort Giveaway
6. Rockford Register Star‘s Cutest Baby Contest
7. NBC San Diego’s Win Rise Against Tickets
8. The Daily Telegram‘s Cutest Baby Contest
9. Fire Engineering’s Battle of the Bands
10. KTSP-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest

Top 10 Submissions
1. Las Vegas Review Journal‘s Big Game TV Giveaway
2. WGN-TV’s Cutest Couple Contest
3. Queens Courier‘s Best of the Boro
4. Pioneer Press‘ Treasure Hunt Medallion Contest
5. CityTV’s Bachelor Canada Casting Call
6. WPXI-TV’s Pittsburgh’s Best Pizza
7. KTSP-TV’s Cutest Baby Contest
8. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s Whisker Whirl’s Cutest Dog Contest
9. Journal Sentinel‘s G Force Packers Ticket Giveaway
10. KFMB-TV’s Live with Kelly in Hawaii

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. Popular Woodworking‘s Workshop Makeover Giveaway
2. Creative Crafts Group‘s Fabric for Life
3. KSCW-TV’s Cash in with KSCW
4. Big Ten Network’s Men’s Basketball Tournament Promotion
5. ABC15′s iPad Giveaway
6. Chicago Sun-Times‘ Mega Money Mix Up
7. Scouting Magazine‘s The Cold Comfort Giveaway
8. ABC15′s Smart Shopper iPad Giveaway
9. Our State‘s Tourmaline Necklace from Wades Jewelers
10. WJBK-TV’s Gardner-White Dream Team Contest

Categories: Contest Examples, Contesting Best Practices Tags: babies, contests, football, january, newspaper, photo, radio, sports, sweepstakes, tv

5 Reasons to Run an Auto Racing Contest

January 10th, 2012 Julie Foley No comments

Top 5 Reasons to Run an Auto Racing Contest

1. Large footprint in the U.S.
– 37 races all over the country – from Daytona to Las Vegas!
2. Longest running UPICKEM National Sport
– 37 weeks of revenue for your media company
3. Desirable demographics
– Huge audience of young people and families
– 75 million fans – 1/3 of the U.S. adult population
– 60% male, 40% female
– 80% of fans 44 or younger
– 40% of fans have kids under 18
4. The U.S.’s No. 1 spectator sport
– Holds 17 of the top 20 highest-attended sporting events in the nation
– The No. 2 rated regular season sport on television
5. Broad appeal Means Large Number of Advertiser Categories to Pitch To
– Auto Dealers
– Award/Trophy Stores
– Banks & Financial Services
– Big Box Retailers
– Bike Shops/Cycling Stores
– Car Audio/Window Tinting
– Doctors/Dentists
– Golf Course/Pro Shop
– Gyms/Fitness Centers
– Hardware Stores
– Home Audio Stores
– Insurance Providers
– Local Pubs/Bars
– Local Utilities
– Mechanics
– Movie Theaters
– Outdoor Stores
– Plumbers
– Restaurant Chains
– Sports Stores
– Sports/Recreational Centers

To learn more, watch a recording of our “How to Sell an Auto Racing Contest” webinar.

Categories: Contest Examples Tags: auto racing, national contest, selling contests, sports

December Round-Up: Top Contests

January 9th, 2012 Julie Foley No comments

Our top contests for the month of December were full of holiday cheer! Our affiliates really got into the spirit of the season by hosting sweepstakes and photo contests with a holiday theme. One of the best contests we’ve seen all year was from KDVR-TV in Denver, Colorado. The winner of their “Tebowing Contest” featured a young fan “Tebowing” with Santa! Check out all the great contests from December below.

Top 10 Registrations
1. KDVR-TV’s Tebowing Photos
2. WXMI-TV’s Like Us to Win an iMac
3. WLUK-TV’s Door Peninsula Winery Gift Card Giveaway
4. Cyberink’s ECGRA UChoose Grants
5. CityLine’s At-Home Audience Contest
6. B98.5FM’s Christmas Wish List
7. WDBJ-TV’s Light Up Your Hometown
8. WDAF-TV’s Fire Up the Furnace (This contest has been taken down.)
9. WJBK-TV’s Exposed
10. Palm Beach Post‘s Presidents in Film Quiz

Top 10 Submissions
1. CityTV’s 12 Days of Christmas
2. The Queens Courier‘s Best of the Boro
3. The Suburban‘s Win a Trip to Sonesta Maho Beach
4. KAMR-TV’s Countdown to Christmas
5. KFMB-TV’s 12 Days of Christmas
6. WKYT-TV’s Christmas Photo Contest
7. KDVR-TV’s Tebowing Photos
8. Journal Sentinel‘s Know This Pro
9. WFTV-TV’s Something to Smile About Holiday Giveaway
10. KSTU-TV’s Fire Up The Furnance

Top 10 Sweepstakes
1. Popular Woodworking’s Workshop Makeover Giveaway
2. WFTS-TV’s iPad Giveaways
3. Where’s Traveler‘s Oahu Giveaway
4. Creative Crafts Group‘s Fabric for Life
5. WRC-TV’s FANdemonium 4G Fridays (This contest has been taken down.)
6. Minneapolis Star Tribune‘s Winter Wonderland
7. KTLA-TV’s Los Cabos Getaway
8. WJBK-TV’s Dream Team
9. Our State‘s Carolina’s Premium Outlets
10. Boys’ Life‘s 2011 Gift Guide

Categories: Contest Examples Tags: December, enter-to-win, newspaper, radio, sweepstakes, top contests, tv

Kentucky TV Station Races to the Finish

January 9th, 2012 Julie Foley No comments

WKYT-TV partners with local business for their Auto Racing Contest

BACKGROUND:
WKYT-TV and WKYT.com took part in Second Street’s 37-week national auto racing UPICKEM contest. WKYT-TV is owned by Gray Television, Inc. Digital Sales Manager, Tim Coles, knows his sports contests – he has been using UPICKEM for pro and college football, college basketball, and golf each year.

CHALLENGE:
Lexington does not have a professional race track in its market. The closest track is over an hour north of Lexington. The concern was if local advertisers would sponsor a contest of this nature.

SOLUTION:
The promotion for their Auto Racing Contest included on-air ads, online banner ads and email reminders before each week’s race. The exclusive sponsor was a local wireless provider. The online component, beyond ROS ads, included additional online banner and TV commercials promoting the contest. A larger display at the top of the contest page featured the sponsor’s logo.

RESULTS:
UPICKEM Auto Racing Contest brought WKYT $10,000 in revenue from one sponsor and 670 player participants coming back each week for 37 weeks to play.

– Why the WKYT Auto Racing contest was successful:
It was promoted heavily with all WKYT products including online, on-air and an email campaign. All ads were sold for the full 37-week period.

ADDITIONALLY:
“We had several request from our viewers asking if we were going to have the contest. We had decided that we would run it even if we did not have a sponsor. So having a sponsor was gravy and they benefited by being included on the banners and promotions.” – Tim Coles, Digital Sales Manager

Categories: Contest Examples Tags: auto racing, case studies, tv