It seems like at some point, in every social media brainstorming session I have ever been a part of, the idea of a consumer photo contest comes up. Rarely is it an idea that actually makes sense.
Domino’s Pizza has recently launched a contest asking consumers to take photos of… their pizzas? Yes. It seems a little weird, but I think it might actually work.
Why? A few reasons:
- People like to take photos of food – myself included. Next time you’re on Twitter, keep an eye out for how many TwitPics have something to do with food.
- The contest is integrated with the messaging objective – The smart element that Domino’s added into this contest is that the low-resolution photos and bad lighting of the photos is embraced and enhances the promotion. Domino’s wanted to appeal to consumer appetites by showing them how delicious their REAL pizzas look.
- Realistic prizes – sure Domino’s could have offered more than $500 bucks for a prize, but then that might actually influence fewer consumers to participate. Consumers are more cynical than ever and if the prizes are too good, I believe that it actually stimulate LESS participation. It’s counter-intuitive, but think about it.
- It influences a sale – If you want to participate, you gotta buy a pizza! Online social media is great, but it’s all about influencing the offline activity.
Here’s the video and the website.
NealStewart.com 