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I actually gave away a Porsche 911. This was not a mall giveaway but a marketing experiment for my new startup: Flat 6 Club. Yes, we wanted something in return
by shon 4y ago
I actually gave away a Porsche 911. This was not a mall giveaway but a marketing experiment for my new startup: Flat 6 Club.
Yes, we wanted something in return, in this case, we wanted you to buy a t-shirt or start a subscription (merch+content+events), which gives us essentially all the same info, which would enter you in a sweepstakes to win the car. We also wanted to promote the club, which we did.
We researched it and contracted a sweepstakes company who helped us run the sweepstakes legally.
In the end, we gave away the car to a very nice man and his wife, who we flew in from Minnesota to San Diego for the giveaway event.
Some people did think it was a scam.
But there are several operations that actually do give cars away such a Omaze, Diesel Brothers and many more.
There’s a model there based on the new post-search world we live in that has to do with high engagement increasing Return On Ad Spend and other AdTech voodoo.
No doubt there are lots of scams but there are also real winners out there.
We’ve only given away 1 car. We learned a ton.
I decided to kill the monthly subscription after we gave away the car because we grossly underestimated the amount of up-front ad spend required to achieve a good ROAS and I knew we wouldn’t be giving away another car for a long time.
The biggest surprise to me was hearing from people that were sad that we killed the paid membership/giveaway program.
This was $9.11/mo for membership and occasional swag drops and automatic entry into our next giveaway —whenever that might be. I communicated personally with some of these folks.
The gist of what I learned was that for $9.11/mo, people enjoyed the hope that they may one day win a 911. We literally had people beg us to bring it back. This is probably the same happiness that a lottery ticket brings to many people. It’s not really that they expect to win. As long as someone wins, they’re buying some hope, some excitement… a dream.
- TehCorwiz 4y agoIn a world where the deck is stacked against most people regardless whether they "do the right things" like go to college hope of a chance windfall may be the only way to reach beyond their economic situation. $9.11 saved per month isn't going to ever buy a car, but it might win one and that's an easy value proposition to some people.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- themitigating 4y agoGoing to college isn't right or wrong it can only improve your chances of getting a job or a higher salary in certain careers. If this doesn't work out moving to the probability of a windfall maybe desperation but it's not smart. If people believe this is their only hope that's sad and we should guide them to make better decisions.
- solardev 4y agoCollege is no guarantee of anything anymore. Many schools and degrees don't even have a positive ROI.
- xwdv 4y agoJust get a STEM degree and it’s hard to do poorly afterwards.
- solardev 4y agoThat's out of reach for most Americans.
- SamoyedFurFluff 4y agoI would disagree. There are several sections of STEM where there really isnt much for you. What are you supposed to achieve with a bachelors in physics?
- labster 4y agoI’d hire a physics BS grad for a software dev job. The ability to reason through mathematical problems is very similar. But then, I’m an atmospheric science student who ended up as a programmer.
- 4y ago
- sschueller 4y agoDid you offer a way to enter without requiring a purchase since you are not a charity? If you did not I am quite surer you violated lottery laws. [1] [1] https://gleam.io/guides/no-purchase-necessary https://gleam.io/guides/no-purchase-necessary
- theodric 4y ago"We researched it and contracted a sweepstakes company who helped us run the sweepstakes legally."
- sschueller 4y agoThe reason I asked is because almost every sweepstakes I see on youtube/instagram/tiktok violates this so I am not ever sure all these "sweepstakes companies" know the rules.
- linedash 4y agofwiw - I follow a number of car YT channels that do giveaways (cleetus mcfarland, etc). They've always mentioned the no purchase required aspect and have a third party company who handle the draw, etc.
- tylergetsay 4y agoIve found that its always incredibly hidden and requires some kind of paid postage where the non free option is like what OP described
- shon 4y agoActually we did. You could send post cards to enter. No purchase necessary. We received a lot! ;)
- oneoff786 4y agoWhat were the odds of winning? How did your lottery compare to the power ball expected value?
- shon 4y agoGreat question. I’d estimate the odds of winning our car were orders of magnitude better than any organized lottery. We had a lot to learn about successful execution on the marketing side so the actual number of entries was well less than 100k. A properly motivated individual may be able to automate finding first-timers like us, and entering via sending postcards, and actually have an excellent chance of winning. Reminds me of Lazlo in “Real Genius” ;)
- scoot 4y ago> But there are several operations that actually do give cars away such a Omaze, Diesel Brothers and many more. From the article: "There are other types of car giveaways run by more legitimate parties (charity raffles, event promotions) that do deliver the goods — but if you win, you’re liable to pay a hefty gift tax."