Skill vs Chance, which will you choose?

As humans, we’re innately competitive, so trade promotions based on luck or ability (AKA skill or chance) continue to attract consumers to a brand or product. Creative strategies that are simple to enter and have a highly appealing prize work well to entice consumers, but they’re also only successful if the relevant legal protections are in place from the start – something that is often overlooked in the race to launch.

Skillful games

Promotions like CrownBet’s 1-million-dollar kick, shows how a brand can effectively leverage a real-time event with a game of skill. CrownBet ran one of the biggest promotions the MCG had seen – Kick to Win 1 Million dollars at the Real Madrid Vs Man City game.

This type of suspenseful and fun skill-based competition is highly effective in generating brand awareness and engagement, generating exposure to the 80,000 attendees at the event alone as well as on screen.

To bring this to life, meant working through a cost-efficient entry mechanic in the background. In this case, promotion insurance that utilised Edge's Fixed Fee Pricing protected the prize pool and the brand. Prize insurance not only means that brands are able to run huge and highly appealing prize headlines like “Win a $1Million”, but they can also involve customers in an action-packed entry mechanic. 

Examples of creative skill competitions: Kick for Cash, Putt for a Million and Hole in One.   

Leave it to chance

The ways to protect a competition promotion become a little more complex when the winning entry is based on random selection rather than skill. It also means more consideration must be given to the applicable legislation and potential permit required.

If there is a possibility that every entrant in your competition has an equal opportunity to win, then you know you are working with a game of chance. There is always the element of luck, even if some part of the competition requires certain skills or abilities.

PETstock’s Wheel of PAWtune competition, is a great example of a promotion competition combing a game of chance mechanic and an exciting prize draw.

PETstock Family Values members who purchased a participating product during the promotional period and scanned their PETstock Family Values Member Card received an entry in the draw. And one lucky winner was drawn to spin the Wheel of PAWtune for the chance to win $100k or $20k for participating. The mega prize went off, making for a very happy customer and brand, thanks to PETstock using Edge’s prize insurance.

Examples of creative skill competitions: Spin the wheel, pick the money bag and scratch and win.   

Don’t forget the insurance

In Australia, it’s important to understand if your competition is in the skill or chance camp as each have different regulatory, legal and or permit requirements.

Creative competitions are only a successful strategy if they’ve factored in the relevant compliance and included the right type of cover. At Edge, we draw on over a decade of experience in prize insurance to help brands achieve maximum impact while minimising financial exposure and reputation risk.

We work closely with brands to create innovative and flexible solutions, built around their budget and risk tolerance. And we offer clients 100 per cent protection for game of chance promotions. We’re proud that to-date we’ve paid out every claim or prize.

With budget and brand protections in place through prize insurance, our clients can run the seemingly impossible promotions and big ideas.

Why skill vs chance matters

By categorising your promotion as either skill or chance based, will mean you’re on the right path to determine what terms, conditions, permits and insurance cover is critical to protect your big idea.

Terms and conditions provide the clarity that all parties ultimately want.  They work to build trust. And are an expected standard practice that will help you avoid the pitfalls of a failed competition promotion.

4 simple steps to protect your promotion:

1. When in doubt go heavy on the terms or conditions – you can always cutback later after a compliance check that has looked at all aspects of promotional compliance.
2. To improve the promotion experience, think about what would help the entrant – what do they need to know upfront in an easy to understand format?
3. Where will the full conditions be available to view?
4. Include promotion insurance that covers your budget and brand value.

By turning to promotional agencies like Edge, you can trust our expertise to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience.

You can get expert advice on how to protect your creative ideas. Get in touch today!