How to pick winners the right way: Winner selection tips
Prize draws may be the easiest promotions to administer and run but they still require great care and attention in order to be deemed compliant with the CAP Code – the rulebook that the Advertising Standards Authority regulates.
We take a look at how to make sure your promotions are run right and are also offering to pick your winners for free this summer!
“Rule 8.24 of the CAP Code states that: Promoters of prize draws must ensure that prizes are awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners are selected by a computer process that produces verifiably random results, by an independent person, or under the supervision of an independent person”.
We see many clients who say that a colleague is planning to select the winners for their promotion, and this is exactly where we step in and say abort! In every circumstance, no matter what the promotion, who the brand or marketing agency is, they are not permitted to select the winners. An independent verification service, like PromoVeritas who are not tied to the brand should be selecting your winners each time, whether it be for a prize draw or competition. Conversely you could have Joe Bloggs off the street pick your winner as they have no contractual relationship with a brand, however there will be no legitimate audit trail of how the winner selection took place – so we strongly advise against this.
What about competitions? CAP Code rule 8.26 states: “In competitions, if the selection of a winning entry is open to subjective interpretation, an independent judge, or a panel that includes one independent member must be appointed. In either case, the judge or panel member must be demonstrably independent, especially from the competition’s promoters and intermediaries and from the pool of entrants from which the eventual winner is picked. Those appointed to act as judges should be competent to judge the competition and their full names must be made available on request”.
This is also where we step in for compliant winner selection. On thousands of occasions PromoVeritas have been involved with judging multiple entries whether they are photo, video or written entries, which we then narrow down to a shortlist and sit with a panel of judges from the brand in order to determine a fair winner picked in a compliant way. We also often have specific judging competitions which may require external expertise, for example a chef to help judge a cooking competition to ensure we have the best judges each time.
Ultimately, we are advising you to not be tempted to pick winners yourself or use one of your agencies as they will not be deemed independent and you will have no way of proving that the draw was fair and not fixed. Using PromoVeritas to run your prize draws removes all the headache, whilst guaranteeing the integrity of your campaign and your brand’s reputation. Whether your promotion involves one winner at the end of a campaign, or hourly winners over several weeks, our Operations Team will ensure they are all picked fairly and randomly, selecting precisely the number of winners at the specific times required for the promotion, and vetting the quality of entry data submitted at all stages.
We’re so passionate about running promotions right, that this summer, we’re offering to draw your winners for FREE to give you an insight to the world of prize draws that we love so much! Click here for more information on our amazing offer!