My contest (hosted by Brick and Click Consulting) is winding down, and today's the day to put aside a few minutes, put your creative cap on and come up with a brand idea, slogan, jingle, poem ... just about anything related to Coca-Cola or one of its products you can dream of. Simply register at OceanOfIdeas.com, look for the confirmation e-mail, click the link, then submit your entry. You can add a picture, document or video link, or make it very simple and do a 'roses are red' type poem (I did a sample one). It's all about a little fun in your week and some creative 'consumer generated idea generation'. It's also a geat opportunity to showcase your talents. You never know who might be taking a peek, like the folks at Coke headquarters in Atlanta (you need to visit their blog, a nostalgic trip down memory lane each day, chock full of Americana: Coca-Cola Conversations).
Check a previous post for details on the prizes I'm offering. Grand Prize winner gets some great Coke gear, months worth of carbonated beverages, and a Webforce Open Innovation platform license (the platform the contest is on), worth about $6,000. Six grand. Your own consumer generated idea platform to play with or integrate into your business as you choose. Two runners up will receive some cool gear, beverages and a Premium Open Innovation Challenge on Fellowforce.com's global crowdsourcing platform (value $495).
If a minimum number of entries is not reached (details at OceanOfIdeas.com), the contest may be extended one more week. Voting will extend several days beyond the deadline for contest submissions. You're encouraged to spread the word about this (and your entry!) to your social networks and friends and family. Folks can register and vote even if they don't have an entry submission. Thanks for playing along with my Social Media/Open Innovation contest ... it's a small way for me to share some of the wonderful experience I enjoyed in Atlanta recently as the winner of Coke's 'Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes'. You don't have to love Coke as much as I do to enter the contest. But hey, why not enter the Coke contest and a have a asmile today :-)
A quick update on my Coca-Cola Brand Fan Contest, being held at OceanOfIdeas.com (the other URL I originally gave, TwitFizz.com, works as well). Due to the unexpected arrival of a new goodie package from a friend at Coca-Cola, and the fact I had some server issues over the weekend, the contest is being extended one week, until Wednesday December 5th. I also want to 'get the word out' (your help in that is EXTREMELY APPRECIATED) and give everyone enough time to cook up up a creative entry, since it's your chance to impress the community and some folks at Coke with your sparkly genius. This is not an official Coke contest. It's hosted by me (Brick and Click Consulting's Jeff Crites). But my three days in Atlanta - courtesy of Coke and my Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes win - introduced me to a fantastic and friendly group of folks who work at Coke HQ. Some of them operate the Coca-Cola Conversations blog (you're highly encouraged to add it to your daily reading). All of them are now considered friends (they treated us like family), and I know they're taking a peek at this contest ... and I'm also asking several of them to vote for their favorite entry.
The Grand Prize winner gets: a Coke Canvass bag (declared the 'coolest bag ever' by my wife), Coke red scarf, Coke red winter cap, Coke journal, Coke bottle from their Veterans Day celebration at Coke HQ, Coke Mardi Gras beads and six cases of Coca-Cola carbonated products. Plus: a Free Webforce 2.1 Consumer Co-Creation & Feedback Engine license from Fellowforce.com (it's the platform the contest is being hosted on),worth $5,000 Euro or about $6,200 USD.
The Webforce application can be loaded on a hosting service of your choice at no cost - something like Meta Fusion is recommended (you're responsible for the hosting service & fees). Integrating Webforce into a company's existing IT/server infrastructure may require a 'load fee'. My goal is to keep this all at 'zero cost' to any winner.
First Runner up (2nd prize) gets a long sleeve Coke T-shirt, collapsable Coke six-pack cooler and four cases of Coca-Cola carbonated beverages (coupons for the beverages).
Second Runner up (3rd prize) gets a cool 'sling-style' sports backpack (with padded laptop sleeve) and four cases of Coca-Cola carbonated beverages.
PLUS: Both runners-up receive a Premium Open Innovation Challenge on the Fellowforce.com global Challenge Board (value $495). Posting an Open Innovation Challenge is a great way to reach a global pool of consumers for innovative ideas and solutions. You can use this to solicit ideas for just about anything ... and it's a great marketing tool as well.
All you need to do is go to OceanOfIdeas.com, Register (very quick, just name, username, age, e-mail), dream up a creative slogan, poem, jingle, brand or marketing idea relating to Coca-Cola or one of its many products, and enter (follow directions at the site). You can spend fifteen minutes or as much time as you want on this. Remember to ask your friends and network to enter and vote as well. If people don't want to submit an entry, they can register and vote for their favorite (yours?).
I wanted to do something that would share a bit of my experience at Coca-Cola with everyone, and tap the viral and empowering nature of social media and Open Innovation. You may not be obsessed with Coca-Cola as much as I am, but enter this contest and show your 'brand creativity'. In addition to a chance at some great prizes, you'll have an opportunity to showcase your 'personal brand/expertise' for all to see. Good luck!
I recently returned from a magical three day journey to the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, having won the Experiencing Coca-Cola Sweepstakes via MyCokerewards.com. Some of my spoils: two nights hotel accomodations overlooking Olympic Centennial Park, chauffeur driven tour of the city, VIP tour of the Coke HQ (including a rare peek inside Coke's Archives where they keep brand item dating back to the 19th century), lunch with Coke employees, dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, breakfast at Ruth's Chris, VIP tour of the World of Coca-Cola, a huge duffle bag full of wonderful Coke stuff and a year's supply of soda.
I'll have a detailed post about my time at Coke. Suffice it to say it was a passionate consumer's dream come true, pushing the admiration and brand love I had for Coke to atmospheric levels (the picture is one of dozens of very large Coke inspired pieces of art from various countries at the Atlanta HQ). It also inspired me to host a social media contest, combining Twitter, this blog and an Open Innovation platform to see what kind of creative brand love others might have for Coke, and also see what can happen in a very short period of time if you put your mind - and the right tools - to good use.
You're invited to play along in my Brand Fan Contest. Go to TwitFizz.com, a consumer feedback-co-creation platform I customized in about a half day for this contest. It's powered by Fellowforce.com's Webforce Consumer Feedback & Co-Creation Engine, an off-the-shelf Open Innovaton product that can be customized to act as a Dell IdeaStorm-like platform for any business, government or organization. My goal was to take this contest from idea to creation and launch in one day, which I have. Ultimately, my hope is to show how new platforms that connect people and their ideas can be energized by the viral explosiveness of a social media channel like Twitter. This entire contest - and social media marketing experiment - will last about ten days **(UPDATE: Nov. 19 Contest extended due to more prizes being added)** from idea to creation to launch to the finish line. All you need to do is to go to Twitfizz, register, and submit a creative entry. What kind of entry? Glad you asked.
The full name of the contest is the Coca-Cola Talent, Jingle, Slogan, Poetry and Brand Idea Challenge. The rules are fairly loose: impress the community with an original slogan, poetry piece (Coke cans are red, etc), jingle (a video link to yourself singing, sure), marketing idea or just about any talent + Coke + idea thing you can muster. You don't have to love Coke as much as I do, but it has to mention or be about Coca-Cola or any of its products. It has to be tasteful, brand positive and G-rated. This contest is not sanctioned by Coca-Cola, but we are very friendly, and I'll be passing the results to Coke officials I've met. The Grand Prize entry with the most votes will win a Coca-Cola winter cap and scarf (red, handsome, from their Recycled line), a Coca-Cola Journal, six cases of Coke product (pictured) AND (Nov 19th update): A FREE Webforce Consumer Co-creation & Feedback application license worth more than $6,000!! (some integration fees may apply, see details at TwitFizz.com). Two runners-up will receive four cases of Coca-Cola related carbonated product AND (Nove 19th add): a FREE Premium Open Innovation Challenge on Fellowforce.com's global crowdsourcing platform ($495 value!)
The contest will end on Wednesday, Nov 26th (may be extended if more prizes appear, or a minimum number of entries has not been met). It's all about having a good time, impressing the community (and hopefully Coke!) with your creativity, and showcasing the viral power and brand/consumer connective possibilities of Social Media and Open Innovation. I'm asking friends on Twitter especially to help spread the word. Submitting a Twitter-length entry (140 characters or less) is encouraged, so you can Tweet it to your network over and over and over. Inviting friends to register and check out your entry and vote is encouraged. I want to mention one of my favorite blogs, CopyBlogger, which hosted it's second Writing Contest that utilizes Twitter (entries must be 140 characters or less). I entered the first writing contest, which was a hoot, and it helped inspire me to host a contest of my own.
Complete rules for the Brand Fan Contest are at Twitfizz.com. You'll see a couple of my sample entries (I can't win my own contest). You can vote for as many entries as you want, but the platform will only allow you to vote 'once per entry'. Please check out the other entries, vote for good ones and leave comments if you'd like. This is an UNOFFICIAL contest, conceived and launched in one day, inspired by my Coke Sweepstake trip ... and I'd like to pass some of that experience and loot to others. Check back for updates here and on my Twitter page. I'll also be doing mobile podcast updates via Utterli and connecting with folks via Linkedin and Facebook as well.
I can't say enough about the wonderful people I met at the Coke HQ in Atlanta. They treated my wife and I like family. They're the classiest, friendliest and most generous bunch you'd ever have the pleasure to meet, and I'll always have the fondest memories of my time in Atlanta thanks to Mike, Carlos, Adam, Helen, HB and others. I encourage everyone to stop by their fabulous blog, Coca-Cola Conversations, which taps into the magical (and bottomless) treasure trove of Coke advertising, memorabilia, artwork, products and historical items.
Good luck in the contest (and tell your friends to register and vote!).
Jeff
**** UPDATES*****
Monday, Nov. 17th, 10:30am ET: I just added the journal to the Grand Prize pot.
Wednesday, Nov. 19th, 3:40pm ET: I just added significant Open Innovation prizes, including the $6,000 Webforce license to the Grand Prize. Also, the contest has been extended until Wednesday, November 26th at 9pm ET. Additional Coke gear will be added as well, thanks for a friend at Coke HQ. As soon as I find out what is coming, I'll add it to the pot.
Got to go into the inner bowels of Coke's Heritage (archives) section today, a place that few Coke employees get to see. WooHoo! One of the many fantastic things we experienced in our first day with Coke.
Newt Gingrich's group, American Solutions, is hosting a consumer generated video contest based on the organizations's 'Drill Here, Drill Now' campaign to lower energy prices and lessen U.S. dependence on foriegn oil. Whip up a creative video and get it in fast. Deadline is today, and you might win free gas for a year. Details here.
For the second year in a row, the Duck brand of duct tape is sponsoring a 'Saves The Day' promotion, awarding the person with the best story of how duct tape 'saved the day' $5,000 and a year's supply of Duck® brand duct tape. Not sure how much duct tape the average person uses in a year, but five grand is five grand.
In 2007, more than 2,650 stories were entered from the U.S. and Canada, stories ranging from creating a makeshift nest to saving a family of birds to making emergency car repairs on a first date. Emphasis will be put on creativity and original use of duct tape to 'save the day'. In addition to the first place prize, ten additional winners will be chosen at random, receiving $500 as well as a year's supply of tape.
If you're passionate about duct tape - and really, who hasn't been grateful for this sticky stuff of wonder - get your creative juices flowing and go to DuckTapeSavesTheDay.com for the skinny on rules and such. The contest kicked off the first of July, and runs through the end of October. The Duck brand of duct tape is made by Henkel, which has been around for about 130 years. More info at DuckProducts.com.
The second Spoonful of Stories contest is officially underway, and Cheerios is inviting would-be authors to submit children's book manuscripts from now until July 15th. Book entries should aim for the 4-8 year old market. Cash prizes will go to up to three winners, with the top writer getting his/her book evaluated by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for a potential book deal.
Last year, Cheerios received close to 1,000 entries, with Nashville's Shellie Braeuner named the grand prize winner. In addition to her $5,000 prize, Braeuner snagged a book deal. Her winning story, The Great Dog Wash, will be printed and available in Cheerios boxes in the spring of 2009. A hardcover version will hit bookshelves in the summer of 2009. If you're interested, go to Spoonfulofstoriescontest.com for full details and contest rules.
Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg, Maryland apparently bakes a mean batch of cookies. Double Delight Peanut Butter cookies to be exact, crisp on the outside, soft in the center ... and tasty enough to put Gurtz atop the other 99 finalists in Pillsbury's 43rd Bake-Off contest (first was in 1949).
Gurtz was crowned the grand prize winner Tuesday in a ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas. Judges sampled various baked goods whipped up by the 100 finalists on Monday, and final judging took place yesterday. Gurtz's total take: $1,005,000 plus a GE Profile Double Oven. The additional five grand came from a Jif Peanut Butter Award.
According to a Style article in today's Washington Post, Gurtz has submitted entires in the Pillsbury contest for 15 years. Her Fiesta Pie, Devil Delight Bites and Very Berry Muffins paved the way for this year's peanut butter cookie smash hit. The Post attributes the big win to Gurtz, a homemaker, "thinking like a marketer" as well as a chef. In addition to "reliability" (every time you make them, claims Gurtz, they come out the same), the cookies were chock full of products made by sponsors of the contest: Pillsbury cookie dough, Jif peanut butter, FIsher peanuts, and both Domino and C&H sugar. Smart cookie, that Mrs. Gurtz.
