Professional compers = unprofessional compers?

arabella505

Uh oh! I agree with snakespilsen here!

This girl seems young and naive. She spends a lot of time making her products and wants someone who will genuinely appreciate it and may promote her products to win. Thats fair enough, I think thats the aim of all competitions isn't it?

It hasn't occurred to her that a 50 something year old bloke might want it for his daughter; nor has it occurred to her that as compers we enter competitions for things we genuinely want or our friends and family genuinely want, instead of winning as much as possible and selling everything, and that we may choose to buy her products if we didn't win, or would recommend her to our friends.

I also don't think she realises what she is doing is somewhere on a scale of unfair-discriminatory-illegal (I'm unsure where it lies on this scale). If we don't agree with what she is doing, why don't we educate her politely? Just explain to her why she can't do and say the things she is doing, and maybe talk to her about our intentions as compers. She already holds a negative opinion of compers, slagging her and her products off is just going to reinforce that belief that no comper genuinely wants to win her products because they like them, and if you don't like them, surely you wouldn't enter the comp anyway so it doesn't matter to you?
Rant over

Roger_Rampant

The thread wasn't just supposed to be about her, but it's the way of the internet that threads don't always go in the direction that we might have hoped for, or intended :rotfl:

mjm3346

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

I think the point here is how many other competition owners are dismissing entries from 'professional compers' either by saying so after the comp has started (like the example in this thread) or by not saying anything at all and just picking people who fit their target audience?

i would not like to think that a large % of the rafflecopter/FB/twitter comps i do are a waste of my time cos people are not abiding by ASA rules.

i think the best thing that comes from these types of threads is that comp runners are made aware that those rules exist.

More likely it will give others the same idea but they will just dismiss compers entries without stating it so they avoid all the aggro.

As long as the entry requirements are clear competitions do not have to be open to all and even if a blog is taken to the ASA there is no "punishment".

Roger_Rampant

It's not a blog AFAIK.

sleepyjones

If I was being honest I would probably agree ... if I was running a competition I would want a random lucky person to win who perhaps has more of an interest in my brand, or my product than someone who just sits entering everything.
I kinda got the impression that some people do just enter everything wether or not they want the prize, half of them will probably just end up on ebay, which is why a competition runner might be a bit pee'd off (especially if it's their product they're giving away). There is the thing about getting contacts in your database, but you want those contacts to be genuinely interested in your product / service ... not just the chance to make a quick buck.

In saying that though, I do have the comping bug now, so I do go against that myself, so I'm not blaming anyone or giving anyone a hard time, I'm just saying I can see why a competition runner might not like it.
This is a bit different, but Apple don't allow people to give away their products as a prize. If you went into the Apple Store and tried to buy 10 ipads, they could refuse the sale if they think, or you tell them that they are competition prizes.

Roger_Rampant

Unfortunately if you run online competitions you are using a scattergun, aka shotgun, approach to your marketing. You don't really have any control over who will sign up, and it's quite possible that they won't end up becoming a paying customer, in the same way that a lot of people that buy special offers in supermarkets or department stores wouldn't want to buy the product if it was being sold at RRP.

As they point out here, scattergun marketing is great for everyday items that everyone needs, not so cost-efficient for higher-end products. The key point is you are spending the money to improve the image of your organisation, and you don't want to alienate chunks of your target demographic by picking and choosing who you allow to enter. How can you tell who is a potential customer and who isn't?

I wonder how many people saw the thread here about Frankie & Benny's rules and thought "I know where we won't be going to eat next time we are discussing where to go for a meal". That was certainly my reaction.

Sorry to mix food metaphors, but I think that Apple might be a bit of a red herring :rotfl:

JessicAhh

Roger_Rampant wrote: »

As they point out here, scattergun marketing is great for everyday items that everyone needs, not so cost-efficient for higher-end products.

I'm not so convinced on this point: higher value items need less people to buy them / buy into the brand. Therefore, for every high value buyer, the lesser value prizes need to attract a greater number of buyers.

It is, I agree, all about brand perception. Personally, I don't think less of a brand, if they are unwilling to hold competitions, but I do think more of a brand if they do. A brand's best asset is its goodwill / the level of respect it receives from its consumers and potential consumers.

It's really difficult to judge accurately the effect of a competition. For example, how does a brand determine where a purchase necessary comp is concerned why Person X bought?
a) new customer bought because there was a comp - and they entered it
b) new customer bought because there was a comp - and they forgot to enter it
c) because they buy it anyway, and entered the comp because it was on a brand they usually buy
d) because they buy it anyway, but they forgot to enter the comp.
e) new customer, bought it just to try something new

It's easy enough to determine the number of entrants, but how does a company calculate the true split between a) and b) ? Many who are asked as part of a comp whether they normally buy the product will say "yes", expecting it to improve their chances.
By extension, you can tell how many people bought your product from sales figures, but how do you determine the motivation of those who did buy, and split them between categories b), d) and e)?

They're a minefield these marketing statistics... :rotfl:

The_3rd_Zebu

JessicAhh wrote: »

They're a minefield these marketing statistics... :rotfl:

Yes - they occasionally rely on the market research obtained from the entries received in these promotions/competitions.


And we all know from these forums how some compers will deliberately give WRONG information if they think it will enhance their chances of winning.

Roger_Rampant

We as compers know that there are plenty of smart ways of dissuading casual punters from entering your comps. Publicly making negative comments about "professional" compers, or discriminating against them in your rules, is not a very clever way of marketing.

After all, the purpose of running a comp is generally to promote your brand, and if you end up alienating part of your target demographic then you have failed. Many compers are still potential customers, when all is said and done.

bigbloke45

When promoters say they want to ban "professional" compers, I presume that they mean people who enter competitions on a regular basis. Have they ever considered that many of these "professionals" are housebound through disability or other reasons through no fault of their own, and that "comping" offers a lifeline to sanity?

They might as well start saying they want to ban people in wheelchairs, epileptics, ME sufferers, MS victims, stroke victims, partially sighted etc.

Given that people like this are much more likely to shop from home, they are rather trying to bite the hand that could feed them.

A pox on them all! :mad: