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Posts from December 2009
Be the Petro-Canada Family Correspondent at the Vancouver Olympic Games (client plug)
Looking for a way to get to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games? Want to get the inside scoop from Canadian athletes and their families and then share it with the rest of the country?
Petro-Canada is holding a contest to find their "Family Correspondent" for the 2010 Winter Games.
You and one lucky family member can win the experience of a lifetime: the chance to become Petro-Canada’s Family Correspondent and report LIVE from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver! Successful candidates will have the chance to interview our Canadian athletes’ greatest fans – their families – who will be watching their loved ones vie for a top spot on the international stage thanks to Petro-Canada’s Canadian Athlete Family Program.
Through Facebook updates, tweets from the field and videos uploaded to YouTube, Petro-Canada’s Family Correspondent will have the opportunity get behind the scenes and find out about the sacrifices families have made to help their loved one reach this milestone, memories from amateur sports days, what the athletes and their families will do to celebrate, what the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games means to them – you name it, we want to know about it – and so does the entire country!
To enter, you need to submit a 30-second video via Facebook saying why you and your favourite family member want to be Petro-Canada's Family Correspondent. Deadline for entry is December 27, 2009. Oh, entrants must be 19 or older and have pre-existing Twitter and Facebook accounts. Full Official Rules.
It seems like a pretty cool gig. You do some reporting from your home location and then are on-site at the Olympics for three days in February. These are the types of things you'll be doing:
- Reach out to thousands of Facebook fans about your collective and individual experiences at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
- Star in short YouTube videos, where you and your loved one interview family members of some of Canada’s top athletes
- Post real-time tweets before and during the 2010 Winter Games
- Blog about conversations and interviews with athletes’ greatest fans – their families!
So, why not enter? Deadline is December 27, 2009 - 5PM EST.
Disclosure: Petro-Canada is a client of mine though I am not involved with this promotion specifically.
From Olympic Pins to Small Business Branding - Me and Raspberry Kids
As I've mentioned, I recently started my Vancouver 2010 Olympic Pin collection. Well, sometimes exciting things happen when you blog about your weird obsessions. Sue Sinclair, Founder and Chief Executive Mom (on Twitter), of Raspberry Kids reads MNIK and sent me a note: she had some Vancouver 2010 corporate pins from Bell as well as a few others and would I like them for my collection.
Well, I'm sure I don't have to describe the frisson of delight I experienced. (Pins!)
Sue dropped the packet of pins off a day or so later. Gems!
Something else was included in the packet: a cute card (with handwritten note), a couple of discount code cards and a packet of Wild Raspberry tea. I asked Sue about it and she said it's something she includes with all orders.
I love this kind of branding initiative from small businesses. First, it reinforces the brand consistently in an engaging way - that can be tricky when promoting a brand whose name doesn't explicitly say what it is. And it absolutely speaks to the kind of feeling that Sue is trying to evoke via Raspberry Kids: warm, comforting, personal.
And finally, it's a reminder to businesses that they can actually be human - we go into business with people, with individuals who can make or break a businesses reputation. And this is true whether you employ 10, 1000, or 10,000 people - each of them is a person who carries a direct line to the company and their reputation. Empower employees to keep those lines strong.
When I followed-up with Sue and told her I wanted to share this little example of added-value marketing, she offered to set me up with a discount code for my readers. Who doesn't love a discount code? So now you can get 15% off at Raspberry Kids if you use the code kate15 on checkout.
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