In a digital age when people are more connected than ever, but disconnected from the physical world around them, sponsors are looking to interact with consumers in new tangible and tactile ways.
That's basically just psycho therapy babble bullshit to explain why there have been so many scavenger hunts surrounding this year's SXSW. On Monday there were dinosaurs waddling around Austin's convention center, snap your picture with one and you could win $100 in gift cards to a local restaurant. The Independent Film Channel's scavenger hunt encouraged participants to bring 'a strong desire to talk to strangers.' The prize? A $300 Apple gift card.
The competitions are a lot of fun for participants, especially those that require teamwork, and as more attention and marketing dollars are targeted at social media the prizes are only going to become more extravagant.
I recently participated in a scavenger hunt with a grand prize of two SXSW music badges and gift certificates galore. All told the prize package was valued around $1,500. The only thing you had to do was figure out clues and snap photos of yourself with Austin landmarks. Everything was running smoothly until the final day of the competition when I received an email from the organizer:
"I feel kinda wrong doing this, but I don't want to give SXSW badges to an old person who could probably afford to get them on their own," it said. "Would you consider taking just one badge, and giving the other to a runner up if you won?"
See, games like Subway Scrabble and McDonald's Monopoly are sanctioned by some sort of gaming commission and prizes must be distributed to those who do not have any association or conflict of interest with the company, that's why there is all that tiny print you can't read without a magnifying glass.
Promotions on social media, however, are handled like the Wild West. All that fine print that lays out a contest's rules is nonexistent when it comes to Twitter and Facebook. And in the Old West its kill or be killed so I played the game and hammed it up with the contest's organizer.
At first I was getting additional clues through a mutual friend, and then when I guessed wrong on one task I received a direct message with additional clues.
"You're clearly trying, so I'm trying to help :)," this was getting a little flirtatious.
After the organization botched a clue I sent a message to the organizer's personal Twitter account to point out the mistake. Not 30 seconds later the organization's official Twitter feed had been updated with the correct information.
Not only is there a lack of an official commission watching over social media giveaways, but I'm also pretty sure the sponsors running the competitions aren't keeping track of them either. Social media is an unproven field with no definable strategies, so it's a niche that -- excuse my assumption -- the people in charge don't really understand. Ultimately it seems to be left up to the intern or the new guy with the thinking of 'here handle this, I don't know how it works.'
The competition I was in had no official rules posted, and was vague on how the winner would be chosen. I was sure I had the prize in the bag since I was in such close cahoots with the organizer and was diligent about quickly posting my pics. The final day comes and as soon as I walk out of my house I realized that my keys were inside. I was locked out with no access to my car. Now more than ever we needed that spare key my roommates and I keep talking about. I sent the organizer a direct message: stuck outside.
The response was tied to an offer: The final clue would be delayed as long as I agreed to split the prize package with another competitor if I won.
This is where I may sound greedy but at this point I wanted to win...the rush of competing against every car on the street not knowing if the person next to me was a challenger for the crown had gotten to me.
I wanted to win the prize, not have it gift wrapped, so I ignored the message and started frantically calling friends for a ride, but by the time I got picked up the final clue had been released and even though we raced downtown it was too late.
The gentleman that won came out of nowhere, and I'll never know if he made the agreement that I turned down and got a tip on what the clue might be.
I should have known that sometimes in the Wild West you have to rob a bank to become a landowner.