Think you can plan and execute a promotion on your own? Take our Promotional Marketing Expert Quiz below to see how much you really know. (Keep track of your answers and check to see how you did at the end. No peeking!)

 

1. What types of promotions need legal official rules?
   1. Sweepstakes
   2. Contests
   3. Loyalty Programs
   4. a and b
   5. All of the above

 

2. You have 100 t-shirts to giveaway randomly to your customers. This is a:
   1. Giveaway
   2. Contest
   3. Raffle
   4. Sweepstakes
   5. Surprise & Delight

 

3. You work for a candy company giving away toys in an online promotion. You are collecting only name and email from your entrants and then will randomly select winners. What might cause a legal problem for your company?
   1. You aren’t asking for a parent’s email
   2. You aren’t collecting the entrant’s address
   3. You aren’t collecting the user’s phone number
   4. You aren’t asking for date of birth
   5. All of the above.

 

4. The following things ARE allowed when you run a sweepstakes on Facebook based on the current Facebook promotion policies:
   1. Requiring that you like the Facebook brand page in order to enter via third party sweepstakes application.
   2. The entrant can get an entry by commenting on a brand post of photo.
   3. Requiring that the user share a link to the sweepstakes for entry.
   4. a and b
   5. All of the above

 

5. You want to run a hashtag promotion on Instagram or Twitter. What is a legal must-have:
   1. A unique hashtag that has not been used for any other promotion.
   2. A tiny url linking to the rules that people are required to include in their post along with the hashtag.
   3. An application or service to track the entry posts on Instagram or Twitter.
   4. Official Rules.
   5. All of the above.

 

6. Prizes at or above $_____ retail value require you to collect a social security number from a winner and issue them a 1099 at the end of the year.
   1. 100
   2. 200
   3. 500
   4. 600
   5. 1,000

 

7. You are required to register a promotion with a surety bond in Florida and  New York when the following is true:
   1. You run any contest, sweepstakes or instant win game
   2. You run a contest, sweepstakes or instant win game where the Grand Prize is valued at $5000 or more.
   3. You run a sweepstakes or instant win game where the Grand Prize is valued at $5000 or more.
   4. You run a sweepstakes or instant win game where the value of all prizes is valued at $5000 or more.
   5. You run a contest, sweepstakes or instant win game where the value of all prizes is valued at $5000 or more.

 

8. What can never be given out as prizes in a sweepstakes or contest?
   1. Alcohol
   2. Firearms
   3. Pharmaceuticals
   4. All of the above
   5. None – all of these can be awarded as prizes as long as you follow state and national laws.

 
Answers:

1. Answer: D. Every Sweepstakes and contest needs to have a set of Official Rules to govern the program. Other promotions, like a loyalty program, also need a set of legal guidelines, but these are called Terms & Conditions.
2. Answer: D. Any promotion where you randomly give away prizes is a sweepstakes. People sometimes use those other names, but sweepstakes is the correct legal term.
3. Answer: D. You could get into trouble legally if you don’t adequately age-gate any promotion that offers a prize that is appealing to children. COPPA rule and the enforcement of it has been the #1 issue we have seen clients get into trouble over.  You must age-gate and prevent children under the age of 13 from supplying any personally identifying information which includes name and their own email address. The other “missing” items are nice to haves, especially when you have to fulfill prizes, but the age-gate is an absolute necessity.
4. Answer: D. Facebook Promotion Guidelines have changed frequently over the last few years, but currently you can’t require someone to share a link, or to post on personal timelines, in order to be entered into any type of promotion. You CAN ask people to share a link – you just can’t require it for entry.
5. Answer: D. While A, B and C are nice-to-haves and we recommend them, if you are running a hashtag promotion, they aren’t essential. That is the beauty of a promotion on Instagram and Twitter – just post rules and you are ready to go!
6. Answer: D. For any prize that you award valued at $600 or more, you are required to issue a 1099 to the winner, which does require you to collect a social security number.
7. Answer: D. Any Sweepstakes that you run in New York or Florida that has a total prize pool of over $5,000 in combined value MUST be registered in those states. You do not have to register a contest and you can void in those states if you need to if you want to avoid registration.
8. Answer: D. Alcohol, firearms, pharmaceuticals and many other products that are regulated can never be awarded as prizes in the US. For a full list contact us.

 

Scoring:

If you answered D (or mostly D’s) to every question: Congratulations! You are promotional marketing expert! We would be happy to work with you on the next creative concept or big idea for your next program as we are sure it will be a success!

If you answered with a few D’s: Well done! You have the basics down, but you may want to consult us for your next promotion to ensure you are following best practices and aren’t breaking any laws.

If none of your answers were D: Call us! We can help you plan and execute a promotion to keep you out of trouble!

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