ONLINE CONTEST CAMPAIGN

Putting the Shop&Go contest at the top of people's wish list.

SITUATION

Cadillac Fairview owns and operates approximately 30 of Canada's premier shopping centres. To stay in touch with their Best Customers (women 25-54), Cadillac Fairview shopping centres publish a series of e-newsletters, known as the Cadillac Fairview Experience. It's a way for customers to learn about store openings, promotions, sales and mall events.

To encourage Best Customers to sign up for the e-newsletter program, Cadillac Fairview hosts a national annual bilingual online contest over the winter holiday season. For the 2005 contest, Cadillac Fairview wanted to try something new by having a co-branding partner for the contest. A well-known partner would help expand the contest's audience reach and attract new Best Customers, while reducing the cost of the promotion. T4G suggested they partner with Aeroplan, Air Canada's primary membership reward program and Canada's leading loyalty solutions partner. Aeroplan has 4.3 million members and closely matches Cadillac Fairview's Best Customer profile.

The overall objective of the campaign was to increase contest entrant numbers, which would in turn increase traffic to Cadillac Fairview's retail website, www.shops.ca, and subscriptions to Experience e-newsletters. It was also expected that increased contest activity would boost mall traffic and spending at Cadillac Fairview shopping centres.

SOLUTION

For the 2005 contest, T4G worked with Cadillac Fairview to develop the strategy, contest details and creative elements. T4G named the contest Shop&Go to represent both Cadillac Fairview and Aeroplan since the grand prize was a $5000 shopping spree and 200,000 Aeroplan miles (equal to a trip to Europe for eight). T4G mapped out the national print and online media strategy, as well as developed all the creative materials in both English and French. Online elements included web banners, targeted html emails, and special mention on Cadillac Fairview's and Aeroplan's websites. While the bulk of the messaging was done through online media to reduce printing and media costs, a limited print campaign was also key to the promotion. Ads were placed in the Holiday/December issues of selected national magazines, and posters and tent cards were on display at all Cadillac Fairview shopping centres for the 10 weeks the contest ran.

In addition to the various media messages, T4G devised other ways to increase contest participation. One involved a "tell-a-friend" e-referral feature. Entrants would receive an extra chance to win the grand prize for each friend they referred who also entered. Plus, the referred friend had a chance to win a $1000 shopping spree and 50,000 Aeroplan miles. As well, to sustain interest over contest period, 50 instant win prizes of $100 shop! Cards (Cadillac Fairview's gift cards) were given away; with each purchase of a shop! Card during the contest, an instant win coupon was handed out which directed customers to the contest website to see if their coupon number was a winner.

The frequency and variety in messaging ensured that 85% of the target audience was reached and exposed to the message 4.1 times, resulting in a high level of awareness, knowledge and participation in the campaign.

RESULTS

The overall response to the Shop&Go contest was fantastic, outperforming all six previous national contests. The number of entrants exceeded the 2004 contest by 142%. Over 70,000 people entered the contest and the Experience e-newsletter program, 38% of them being new Cadillac Fairview Experience members and 17% being from the "tell-a-friend" program. During the contest period, traffic to www.shops.ca increased by 275%, while traffic to individual shopping centres' websites increased 38%. Cadillac Fairview estimates this translates into a $5.6 million increase in sales at their shopping centres. The cost for this boost in sales and database information from contest entries was roughly $2.25 per entrant compared with the current North American industry average of $30.00.

The winning combination of increased entries and consumer awareness and a decrease in cost resulted in Cadillac Fairview achieving a 35% return on investment. A great holiday gift for them.

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