Comps which exclude compers

Monkey_Chinchilla

I have just removed a competition that has stated anybody entering from Money Saving Expert will be disqualified.

I know this has been discussed a million times before but aside from the fact I don’t know how you’d know where we’ve come from, as a PR professional, I felt compelled to vent.

While I respect the wishes of anybody who runs a competition, hence my removal of the link and regret at posting it (I genuinely didn’t see the exclusion as I only browsed the post - I’m more of a Hollyoaks fan than Corrie so won’t be entering myself), allow me to state the obvious.

By excluding members of one of the most popular and successful websites in the UK, I can’t help but feel you are doing yourself a disservice.

Yes I am a comper but I am also a consumer. Oh and I happen to work in the media. While I do not use my professional social media profiles to try and win competitions, it is no secret among my influential network what I do in my spare time. I am quite happy to talk to anybody who’ll listen about my latest prize and the company I won it with.

Comping often introduces me to brands I’ve never heard of before and I have gone on to buy products I didn’t know I needed, returned to spas and hotels I would never have tried if I’d not won a break there and more importantly I’ve shared my love of brands and products with friends, family and my influential pals in the media.

Just because somebody is a comper, doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. In fact, you’ll probably find that compers are more open to try new brands and products and share their knowledge of them than the average Joe.

The comping community is probably one of the most diverse communities there is. We come from all walks of life. We are also a passionate bunch so if we take your product to heart, you won’t find a better team of ambassadors.

Do you think successful brands like Virgin, Coca Cola, Walkers etc would run regular competitions if they didn’t see it as a cost effective PR exercise?

So let me offer some free professional PR advice to anybody who is thinking of excluding “compers”. Don’t.

janE1956

I do watch Corrie, so copied the link into another browser do not see how they could know I MSE or as you say why it should matter they wouldn't be allowed to discriminate any other groups in this way.

mjm3346

I know this has been discussed a million times before but aside from the fact I don’t know how you’d know where we’ve come from,

How you get to a site can show up on the site (down to the originating page or search terms used etc)

nelie

I won some of these organic crispbreads on twitter about 4 years ago now - gave them to my mum and she's bought a pack EVERY WEEK since then. (She loved them)

Never would have tried them before - but because I won the comp, it was something new.



I don't know why people would want to discourage potential consumers/viewers to their sites. It never has made sense to me.

mjm3346

janE1956 wrote: »

I do watch Corrie, so copied the link into another browser do not see how they could know I MSE or as you say why it should matter they wouldn't be allowed to discriminate any other groups in this way.

Being a "comper" is not a protected characteristic so it would only be possible discrimination if a "protected" group were over represented on MSE so blocking entries from this site might be discrimination against them - as long as the forum is well balanced then blocking everyone from it is probably not an issue.


(The National Lottery did it for a while, they used a certain percentage of Tweets to assess if someone was a comper and not allow them to win - it was stated in the T&Cs)

The_3rd_Zebu

This is the bit that worries me:

To confirm, I'm deleting every single email that comes my way from the @moneysavingexp forum. I am not holding onto data that I have not requested, yet continue to be bombarded with! @MartinSLewis

(that was on Flaming Nora's Twitter site)

https://twitter.com/flaming_nora


How can your email give your source away?

I thought it was only when you filled in the website entry forms that you clicked on from the MSE forum that your source was given away.


This is new to me!

Monkey_Chinchilla

I’ve just seen the comp organiser’s Tweet in which she refers to the “sheer greed” of people on this forum. I am deeply offended.

I, like many other compers on this forum, comp because it is good for my mental health. I started comping when I suffered from insomnia and it was a way to while away the hours at night. At the time, I was getting bullied at work and was made to feel stupid and worthless. When I started entering effort competitions and winning, it gave me a boost to my self confidence. I will never forget the email which told me my entry was chosen from thousands because it was the most inspirational.

I, like many others, don’t comp to make money. If it was that easy, I would have given up work a long time ago! I only ever enter for prizes I want and if I win a runners up prize I don’t want, I donate it to my local charity to raffle, as I know many other compers do.

{Edited by Forum Team} I will gladly avoid promoting her blog on this website in future.

mummy2threeboys

Shot herself in the foot. I read a lot of books, I promote them by reviewing and posting on quite a few forums, I belong to two different real life (not online) book groups, I also keep three local rail station drop and swap bookshelves stocked up with read and collected books, I also happen to work sometimes in a Library ..oh and I'm a comper . Yes I'm greedy for books!

tghe-retford

nelie wrote: »

I don't know why people would want to discourage potential consumers/viewers to their sites. It never has made sense to me.

I've seen gaming companies and gaming websites pour absolute scorn and ire on their consumer base before, it's nothing new or recent. This sort of attitude has absolutely no positive outcomes whatsoever. Whether the target is gamers or compers.

Mystic_Charm

Not sure if you've read this https://twitter.com/flaming_nora/status/1065230009974050818

WeAreGhosts

So is Martin Lewis saying that competitions run by people who say they don't want their comps posting on here should be posted, and there's no reason to exclude them?
Why've they been excluded before? I assumed it was an official thing ...