Bolin Marketing launches integrated social media contest for Edwards® desserts

MINNEAPOLIS (4/13/2010) — Bolin Marketing’s digital group recently partnered with Golin Harris to launch a promotional contest  using several social networking platforms for Edwards® desserts,  a product line of Schwan’s Consumer Brands North America, Inc. The two-phase contest engages consumers online to first nominate and then vote for deserving moms across the nation. The contest, titled “The Edwards Goes To™,”   integrates various social media sites including Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, and allows participants to share their nominations and votes through their personal social networks.

“Social network marketing is a fun and easy way for consumers to engage with our brand on their terms and expand that experience to others in their networks,” says Laura Keogh, marketing brand manager for Edwards desserts. “We’re covering bold, new ground with the integration of multiple social media properties within one contest and will continue to leverage social media in relevant and meaningful ways to build relationships with our consumers.”

The first phase of the contest involves Facebook users nominating fellow members as “deserving moms.” A request is then sent to the nominee to accept the nomination and officially be entered into the contest. In phase two, the list of nominees is narrowed down to a group of finalists after being judged by a panel based on multiple criteria. The finalists then rely on Facebook members’ votes to determine the winner. Throughout the process, there are multiple opportunities for individuals to share the content with other networks, as well as receive contest updates through their newsfeed.

The complex integration of networks and application tools presented a unique challenge for the digital group.  “As a team, we not only had to stay on top of Facebook’s fast-changing rules, tech tools, applications and content approval, but we found ourselves laying new groundwork for engaging and building a larger fan base in the public domain. We capitalized on the rapidly-evolving Facebook contest process and technology to maximize visibility of the Edwards desserts brand in customer-centric places ahead of their competitors,” says Mark Wagner, director of experience design at Bolin.

The contest is featured on the Edwards desserts page in Facebook. The grand prize winner of the contest, announced on April 23rd, 2010, will receive a first-class trip for two to Hollywood, hotel accommodations, and tickets to a red carpet event. In addition, she’ll also receive a year’s supply worth of Edwards desserts. The contest’s success will be evaluated on the generation of newsworthy buzz and its ability to jumpstart a fan base on the new Edwards Facebook page.

About Bolin Marketing:
Bolin Marketing is a Minneapolis-based growth catalyst firm that combines the strategic rigor of business consulting with a color-outside-the-lines agency attitude. The result is pragmatic innovation that drives measurable business growth. Our growth catalysts have led marketing and business teams in small upstarts and Fortune 500 corporations alike.  From branding to licensing, distribution to digital, Bolin provides marketing, business development and creative services for our local, national and international clients.  Other agencies build brands. We build business.  Bolin was founded in 1950 and has offices in Minneapolis, Chicago and New Jersey. For more information, visit www.bolinmarketing.com or call 612-374-1200.