At NDL, when clients or agencies come to us with a big (sometimes crazy*) idea, we’re confident our team of prize promotion experts can make it happen.

We know that brand promotions or competitions can help attract new audiences, enhance customer relationships and get a brand talked about.  Delivered with style, a big brand idea can create stand-out in an increasingly competitive world, so it’s crucial that every last detail has been thought through and organised correctly.

Start with a plan

Sadly, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to putting together a great promotion or incentive. There are simply so many different elements to think about. Developing those first initial thoughts (regardless of how ‘out there’ they may seem) into something that’s going to connect you to your audience takes some very careful planning.

Understand your audience

To determine the best way to meet your brand’s goals, first we need to understand your target audience. By investigating the lifestyle of the people you’re looking to engage which, we can then build the perfect prize content, based around their aspirations and interests.

In recent prize winner research, we found that people would much rather prefer to win the ‘holiday of a lifetime’, even if the monetary value of a material prize, such as a car, was higher. In fact, 64% of people we asked said a travel prize would encourage them to enter a promotion. Making it exclusive adds another level, such as when we took global Xbox gamers to an exclusive event in Texas.

Master your messaging

Only one rule here: keep it simple. As well as covering all the nitty-gritty legal, risk management and compliance bits (well, who else do you know that loves writing T&Cs?), our campaign experts will help you plan your promotional messaging. Get that right and you’re more likely to succeed in building brand loyalty, recognition and invaluable user generated content.

Social media will enable you to build a buzz around your campaign on the most relevant channels for your audience. If they are avid Tweeters, what hashtag will get you noticed? If they are Facebook fanatics, what’s going to get people reacting positively?

Planning ahead can get your brand talked about for longer, well after your winner has been announced. With our winner management team focused on encouraging winners to share their news, we found that 42% of people posted on a social media channel when they had won their prize.

Have a clear strategy

Colin Blake, NDL’s Head of Business Development explains:

‘In the early stages of your campaign, we’ll work with you to establish a long-term strategy based on your customer insights. It’s important that any prize content we create reflects your key objectives. Is your promotion driven by a need to boost brand awareness, or are you aiming to increase sales? Will your promotion work best as a one-off, or are you considering making it a regular event?

‘If you want to see record-level engagement, you’ll need a simple mechanic with a truly original theme and prize. Once your strategy is clear, then we can begin advising you on the right promotional mechanic to help achieve your goals.’

Got a great brand idea?

We’d love to help you develop it. Give Colin a call on 020 7428 1214, email us or see Part 1 of our Guide to Running Successful Promotions for inspiration.

*We really do make crazy ideas happen – in the picture above, we turned Windsor into a Winter Wonderland in the middle of Autumn. The brief was to give someone a life-changing Christmas, thanks to the National Lottery. Watch their film here.

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