White Horse Web Promotion for Mountain Hardwear Combines Innovative Sweepstakes with Social Media for Over-The-Top Results

Mountain Hardwear's Pack a Day Giveaway, an instant-win promotion designed to generate intense interest in a short time period, garnered more than 100,000 entries in a single month. White Horse techniques for combining online paid media and social media to increase the effectiveness of both as traffic drivers were at the heart of the success.

Portland, OR (PRWEB) October 1, 2008 -- White Horse, a digital marketing agency with a deep portfolio of online promotions, announced that an online instant-win contest for its client Mountain Hardwear, a leading mountaineering equipment and outdoor apparel company, utilized a unique format to deliver high response in a short window of time, generating over 100,000 entries in just 30 days.

The promotion, which helped launch a new line of rugged urban daypacks in the increasingly competitive category, used a daily instant-win format to incent repeat brand engagements. The high rate of winning, combined with the short entry period and the instant gratification for participants, generated a groundswell of interest that grew exponentially over the course of the sweepstakes. The cascading model was effective in re-engaging non-winners, thereby driving repeat brand impressions and site visits forty-three percent returned for another try.

As part of its promotional services, White Horse has developed techniques for combining paid and social media to increase the effectiveness of both as traffic-drivers. The promotion relied on a combination of social media seeding, the popular Mountain Hardwear blog, and e-mail opt-in database to drive traffic, as well as a small, highly targeted Yahoo! display campaign.

The small upfront campaign created the initial bump, and participation grew from there. Retailers, friends, and partners were encouraged to advertise the contest on their Web sites and social community pages. An "e-mail a friend" feature added a viral marketing component.

"The Pack-a-Day results really underscore what White Horse can accomplish with the right promotional concept combined with paid media and social media," said Eric Anderson, V.P. of Emerging Media. "We find huge potential in these types of promotions to deliver a one-two punch for retailers: a fast traffic bump and a strong point of entry into the social media space."

Based on the promotion's popularity, Mountain Hardware extended the pack giveaway a month using Product Pulse, a popular social media application that allows people to rate and share products.

About White Horse:

Founded in 1980, White Horse is a privately held digital marketing agency with headquarters in Portland, Ore. White Horse's client roster includes Wells Fargo, Celestial Seasonings, Columbia Sportswear, KinderCare, and Nike. The agency specializes in B2C Web marketing for retail and consumer brands, healthcare, and B2B companies. Its services include user-centered design, Web marketing, technical engineering, user research and analytics, emerging media, and audio/video production.

For more information, visit www.whitehorse.com or call 1-877-471-4200.

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