A Question Of Comping
If you have a comping question, I’ll try my best to answer it. Whether you’re a beginner or an established winner, send in your questions and as soon as I have enough to fill up a page this ‘occasional’ feature will appear. So its frequency is up to you! And, if you disagree with any of my replies or would like to add your own views, please get in touch. There is very rarely a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer with some of the more subjective questions, so make your own opinions heard!
Why are some competitions only one entry per household? Surely they want to sell more of the product?
Not necessarily! Sometimes, the main objective of a promotion will be to build up a database of customers. In this case a company just wants your details – and will try its best to limit the work it has to do in order to get them. Always remember that companies never run competitions out of the kindness of their hearts. There’s always a commercial reason, a ‘hidden agenda’ if you like, which might be to increase sales, build up customer loyalty, develop a customer profile, etc. While a comp designed to increase sales will obviously encourage multiple entries, a promotion run for another reason has no need – more entries will just create more paperwork for the promoter.
People often bemoan the fact that it’s usually big competitions with loads of prizes that have the ‘one entry’ restriction. In these cases, the promoter may have deliberately made the promotion more attractive with a bigger budget and a higher ratio of more attractive prizes specifically to encourage more people than usual to enter – ideally non-compers who might be attracted by a better chance of winning. It’s then in the company’s best interest to make sure the prizes are spread across as many people as possible. They’re not really interested in regular compers in exercises like this. Chances are, we appear on their databases many times already! You can, of course, get around the ‘one entry per household’ rule by being nice to friends and relatives.
When sending postcard entries, is it better to use standard white or picture ones?
Personally, I prefer picture ones if only because they’re slightly larger and thicker than standard white ones and so stand out better.
You can also make cards yourself by cutting sheets of coloured card to size, using old greetings cards, or even cutting up old cereal boxes. If you’re going to do this I recommend keeping the size and shape roughly the same as a normal postcard. In my opinion nothing shouts out desperation (or plays havoc at the local sorting office!) more than a huge circular postcard with zigzag edges written in fluorescent ink, but I know that some people will disagree!
Free picture postcards are now widely available at cinemas, bars and restaurants and I always try to use these. Just make sure that there’s not too much writing on the plain side (it can confuse the postman and possibly even the judges) and always check to ensure that the card you’re using is suitable and isn’t inadvertently advertising a rival product or service!
Is it worth decorating postcards?
I know that some people swear by decorating their cards, but it’s something that I’d never do. Certainly, if ever I was judging a competition I’d avoid decorated entries like the plague (you may as well just write “professional comper” on the card and be done with it in my opinion) – but that’s just me!
The consensus seems to be that decorated cards have a negligible effect in national promotions, but more success in smaller, local comps. Locally you may have a lower number of entries where your work of art will stand out better, or a more inexperienced judge where your cynical attempt at manipulation will be misinterpreted as a nice touch or extra special effort. But really, it’s up to you. Instead of a full-on assault with highlighter pens, stickers, glitter and the like, why not try a more subtle approach? An especially relevant picture postcard, for example. Or an eye-catching stamp (there are so many to choose from these days). Maybe make a card from suitable product packaging, or think of a witty speech bubble to write next to the stamp. But then again, if you prefer the ‘in yer face’ approach then go for it. There are competitions where this might be a valid, even sensible strategy (the aforementioned local comps, children’s comps, etc.) and I’ve heard of plenty of big winners who’ve used the decoration route. Who knows whether a prize was forthcoming because of – or despite! – the decoration. It’s whatever you’re happy with.
Is it better to write or use a printed label?
I always write my entries. It looks less professional and more personal. (Comping must be the only hobby where it’s better to dumb down - although I’ll stop short of recommending, as some do, that you deliberately crumple up entries or embellish them with coffee stains and teacup rings!)
A promoter likes to think that you’ve made an extra special effort to enter their particular competition, and not that theirs is just one of many. So many in fact that your comping is actually an industry and you have to use labels to save your valuable time. Of course, there will always be exceptions. Not enough space on an entry form for example, or a form printed on the inside of a greasy lard wrapper, or even terrible handwriting! Even here you should be careful though, as there can be security implications – has a label been improperly used to deliberately obliterate the real entrant’s details, for example? But always check the rules carefully before even considering a label. They may stipulate that you write your entry, in which case using a label for whatever reason will most likely get you disqualified.
Can I send more than one competition entry form in an envelope to save postage?
Unless the rules specifically limit you to one entry per envelope, yes you can. But I don’t think that this is a good idea.
If it’s a draw, envelopes may not be opened so all of your efforts may be wasted. And even if they are opened, your entries will be grouped together. Much better to send them at intervals throughout the promotion so that your entries are spread around. This doesn’t matter if a promoter simply puts entries onto a computer as soon as they arrive, but how often do we know the precise form that the judging and drawing of a competition is going to take? Much better to be on the safe side.
With tiebreaker comps, your envelope should at least be opened of course (!) but there’s a danger that too many entries together might flag you up as a professional comper. Also, there’s the possibility of “death by association” – your one, brilliant slogan might get overlooked if it’s sandwiched between a few dodgy efforts!
Bear in mind too that if you put all of your eggs in one basket, then it only needs something unfortunate to happen to that one envelope and all your chances will be instantly ruined. Loss or delay by the post office, for example, or your entries being processed by someone at the handling house who’s having a particularly bad day. Imagine the scene. You’ve sent in a whole load of slogans extolling the virtues of your partner and the person at the handling house whose job it is to shortlist entries has just split up from theirs. Everything will be all right next week when they’re back together again after a wonderfully romantic weekend away, but the day your envelope arrives…forget it! Safer to spread the load!
As for postcard competitions, we list those that we know can go ‘All In One Envelope’ (AIOE) for your ease of reference. These envelopes are opened by the promoters and your postcards are individually sorted into their respective ‘hats’ before a winner is chosen. Not all promoters allow this (as you have probably noticed throughout the magazine) so if we don’t list it as AIOE then don’t do it!
Until next month, keep those questions coming and have fun with your comping!
Smid x
|
