Category: Articles

Good Criteria for Judging a Contest

Fae Savignano, Senior Vice President and expert on all things promotional, weighs in on what good criteria are for judging a contest in her blog post for the month. As you are all probably aware, a contest is a game of skill; whereby entrants are judged on their ability to successfully perform skill-type activities. For example, writing an essay, preparing a recipe, answering trivia questions or solving puzzles would all

May 5, 2025 2 Comments

What is Promotional Marketing?

Promotion marketing is any message that includes an incentive to persuade the target audience to take immediate action, thereby driving some form of brand interaction that leads to a current or future purchase. Promotion is different from advertising and other forms of marketing in that the goal is to drive immediate behavioral change. Promotional marketing is an often-misused tool when placed into inexperienced hands. You must ensure that any

May 4, 2025 2 Comments

Criteria for Judging a Photo Contest

Fae Savignano, Marden-Kane SVP, follows up on her “Good Criteria for Judging a Contest” blog with this closer look at photo contest criteria. I would like to expand the list of suggested Contest Judging Criteria as it applies specifically to Photo Contests to include updated entry methods, social media trends and promotional knowledge acquired in the past 2 years. Previously suggested Judging Criteria for a Photo Contest: Adherence/Appropriateness to Theme

May 3, 2025 5 Comments

The Difference Between Sweepstakes and Contests

Katie Blaney, one of Marden-Kane’s Account Supervisors, explains the difference between sweepstakes and contests. If your company wants more information on either, give us a call at 516-365-3999. The words “promotion,” “sweepstakes,” “contest” and “giveaways” are sometimes used interchangeably. However, there are a few very distinct differences between sweepstakes and contests. To start, the word “promotion” can be used to describe many different marketing tactics including Sweepstakes, Contests, Instant

May 2, 2025 3 Comments

What Makes a Good Promotional Campaign?

The art of marketing relies heavily on the various ways in which products, services, and even people are advertised and presented to the general public. Promotional campaigns are one of the most fundamental tools used to introduce or reintroduce any given product or service to a large audience over a period of time. There are many factors that must be choreographed in order to pull off an advantageous promotional campaign. Even before execution, a campaign must contain certain vital elements at its foundation so that positive results will be ensured upon completion. The campaign must be formulated to reach an attainable goal, must be presented in a unique way that engages its audience, and must, throughout its course, showcase the item or service which is its focus. At its completion, the promotional campaign must bear results.

May 1, 2025 2 Comments

Sweepstakes Winners: W-9’s and 1099’s

SVP, Fae Savignano contributed this informative post on what sponsors need to know about filing and processing winner W-9’s and 1099’s for their promotions. Sponsors of Promotion Games of Chance offering and awarding prizes valued at $600 or more should be aware that they are responsible to obtain a signed, legible copy of an IRS form W-9 from every winner that they issue a prize to. This means that

April 30, 2025 42 Comments

What is “Consideration” in a Sweepstakes?

Account Supervisor Cheryl Thornton contributed this post on consideration. Consideration has many definitions, but when it’s included in a Game of Chance such as a Sweepstakes, the promotion could be violating federal, state and local laws and regulations governing Sweepstakes and Contests. When a promotion combines the elements of (1) prize, (2) chance and (3) consideration, it is a Lottery. All lotteries, except those which are state operated are

April 29, 2025 36 Comments

5 Things To Know About Running an Instant Win Game

Marden-Kane is your source for custom or pre-built instant win games that can be used for your next promotion. Not sure what an instant win game is? Check out our demo, and read on for 5 things to know about them: What is an instant win game? An instant win game is a game of chance where a player finds out instantly if they have won a prize. The

April 27, 2025 No Comments

The Facts About Prizes Revealed

Fae Savignano, SVP, contributed this post about prizes. Research shows that more than half of all adults in the U.S. enter at least one sweepstakes every year, and this amount increases exponentially. Promoting Sweepstakes and Contests are an excellent way to engage and retain your customers and a properly structured prize offering will definitely enhance your endeavor. Let’s face it, the chance of winning an expensive and alluring prize

April 26, 2025 No Comments

Celebrating 20 Years with Marden-Kane Account Director Cheryl Thornton

Happy 20th Anniversary to Marden-Kane Account Director, Cheryl Thornton! Get to know Cheryl below — and make sure you comment with your well wishes in the comments! What was your job title and responsibilities when you were hired? I was hired as an Account Coordinator for Len Bierman, one of the partners of MK at that time. How has your job evolved over the years? The position evolved as I

June 4, 2021 No Comments