Best Use of Games, Contest and Sweepstakes
Agency: BARD Advertising
Campaign: The Littlest Pet Shop Pets on Parade
Client: Hasbro
Hasbro wanted to develop a national promotional campaign that could be executed at multiple retailers and increase product sales for their Littlest Pet Shop (LPS).
LPS customers were girls, ages 6-9 who were avid online gamers, highly social and belonged to a virtual community. An online microsite was created that allowed them to collect pets and play and connect with friends, while driving them back to retail to purchase LPS products that would, in turn, increase their fun on the microsite.
From January to July, girls could create their own virtual floats with LPS online pets and add them to a virtual parade of pets, upload and enter their own LPS parade of pet photos into a photo contest, send the photos to their friends and then vote on their favorites (coolest, fanciest, silliest, most colorful, most adorable). They could also send emails and e-cards to friends.
Hasbro also partnered with EA to cross-promote the microsite with LPSO.com. A home page banner ad unlocked EA exclusive floats. An LPSO.com Float of the Week program drove girls to the microsite. For every LPS Pet UPC code entered, girls received an entry into a sweepstakes and a new pet for their online parade. New LPS online pets were released monthly and girls were rewarded with prizes such as downloadable wallpapers and screensavers as the parade increased in size.
Targeted media was placed on Nickelodeon and Neopets. Email blasts were sent to current LPS customers and LPS Pets on Parade contest and sweepstakes participants.
On February 13, an LPS parade was hosted within, 2,000 Walmart stores. Girls paraded in front of the store and through the aisles to the toy department, where they received free giveaways such as Pets on Parade bags, flags, posters, sticker sheets and diary stickers. They could also have a free photo taken of themselves in front of an LPS Pets on Parade backdrop. Each giveaway drove the girls back to the microsite. Kmart hosted an in-store Scavenger hunt where girls could enter to win either an LPS standee or an LPS Tiger toy prize.
Pets on Parade generated more than 400 million impressions. Walmart stores with the LPS Pets on Parade promotion saw a 211% lift in sales from the previous month. Ten Grand Prizes were awarded, including Apple iPod Touches and a $50 iTunes gift card.
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