I’m in the process of researching and writing two Forrester reports about user-generated online video contests [8 July 2009 update: I've posted some of the research findings], so I’ve spent a lot of time recently talking to contest vendors and to marketers who’ve run video contests. I’ve also been reviewing every contest I can find online.
In the course of my research, I’ve been keeping track of the best contests I’ve seen. Of course, “best” is subjective, and it doesn’t always mean “most entries” or “most video views.” I’ll be honest: of the hundreds of contests I’ve reviewed, I’ve seen far more failed efforts than successful ones. But some contests do a wonderful job of finding the right premise, of choosing the right prize, or of engaging in the right promtional tactics. And a select few — including Shakira, Doritos, and Tourism Queensland — are lucky enough to get all three of those pieces spot on.
I’m still working on my research — and will continue to look for other great examples of how marketers have used online video contests. So if you have an example you’d like to see on this list, please leave it in the comments below, and I may add it to my list. But for now, these are the best I’ve seen:
Media & Entertainment
- Bicycling Magazine: Win Any Bike
- Shakira: Hips Don’t Lie
- Def Leppard: Lip Sync Contest
- Univeral Pictures: Funny People Contest
Consumer Packaged Goods
- Colgate: Max Fresh Karaoke Contest
- Brylcreem (UK): b Effortless
- Wilkinson Sword (Germany): Xtreme Shaves
- 3M Post-It Notes: You Stuck It Where?
Food & Beverage
- Doritos: Crash The Super Bowl
- Jim Beam: The Remake
- Baby Ruth: Take Me Out To The Ballgame
- Little Penguin Wine: The Little Penguin Pick-Up Project
- Black Box Wines: You Got Boxed
- Okanagan Spring: Sponsor Me Spring
- Baskin Robbins: Ice Cream and Cake Dance Contest
Financial Services
- Access Group: One Less Worry
- Turbo Tax: Tax Rap
- Wells Fargo: Someday Stories
- Upromise: Tuition Tales
Travel & Tourism
- Tourism Queensland: Best Job In The World
- Sunshine Village: Ski & Shoot Sunshine
- Cleveland Visitors Bureau: The Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Contest
Retail & Apparel
- Nike: Nike Field Reporter
- Zappos: BoxBreak Contest
- Target and Converse: Challenge. Create. Change.
Consumer Electronics
- Sony: Dance & Win A New Walkman
- Cellular South: Your Stories, Your Network
- Acer: Want One?
- Sandisk: 60 Second Summer Mobile Phone Video Contest
- Microsoft: Halo 3 Contest
Information Technology
- Sun: Dude, Where’s My Pass?
- Linux Foundation: We’re Linux
B2B
- Intuit: Small Business Grant Competition
- Google: TV For All Contest
- TCBY: This Could Be Yours Store Giveaway
Other
- CareerBuilder: Vent Your Way To A Getaway
- The Olympics: The Future of the Olympics
Again, if you know any other great video contests that should be on this list, tell me in the comments below. And if you’re looking for a more comprehensive list of video contests, check out OnlineVideoContests.com, or contest vendors like Meme Labs, Votigo and Strutta.
[Updated on 24 September 2009 to add new contests from Google, Sandisk, 3M, Okanagan Spring, Baskin Robbins, Microsoft, TCBY, and the Olympics.]
Saw this as a great way to recruit a social media bod http://www.areallygoodejob.com
[...] users to submit online content in the past year. I’ve been collecting a list of dozens of great video contests, and one contest clearinghouse site says there are 115 user-generated video contests accepting [...]
we have a YouTube contest launching Friday – takeover ad is to run 7/19…check us out and provide your feedback!
Check out Disney.com’s U Rock 2. It’s our second annual music video contest, currently in the voting phase. http://www.Disney.com/URock
For the record –
I entered about 8 of them, won the little penguin one, and they never announced a winner to the “vent your way to a getaway” contest which sucks because I was in second. And I can’t think of anything that makes an entrant madder with a company than failing to deliver on the small prize offered by not following through with the prize. Infuriating.
Aside from that, I am also in the process of shilling hard for votes on a current entry, one of the ten finalists in the Quizno’s “Where do you Torpedo” contest, for which I think my entry shows an incredible amount of effort and fun, and I’d love to have you or anyone who reads this pop over and vote for me. Details below.
Vote for “Skyscraper of Sandwiches” – dinky registration required
http://promo.toastytorpedo.com//videos.aspx?ucid=3481a711-fb40-4288-b46e-e6ca9635fb89
And if you’re willing, you can vote once a day till July 31st (it only requires a simple email address after the first day and takes 3-5 seconds to vote)
Nate, thanks for spreading the word about the efficacy of the better video contests out there. Memelabs is proud that our contests are dominating your list of the best. Marketers and contest-junkies, stay tuned for some great new contests this fall.
[...] more examples, Mr. Elliot, from Forrester was nice enough to post a list of the “best” contests on his personal blog. I wish I would have seen that Bicycling contest earlier. I want a new [...]