Yesterday, January 30, IKEA named Kyria Henry the grand prize winner of its ‘Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest.’ After a month-long, online public vote, Ms. Henry has won a year-long sabbatical (worth $100,000) to improve the lives of others through her ‘paws4vets’ program, and over the next year, will share her experience online at www.thelifeimprovementproject.com. Additionally, IKEA is donating $46,844 to Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, $1 for every vote cast in the contest.
festivals and competitions
The brands are getting ready to the upcoming Super Bowl in their own creative ways. Some of them are launching new adverts like Doritos and Pepsi, while others are kicking off much bolder projects, transforming online activity of their fans into support for offline actions, just like Mercedes-Benz USA. The auto maker, which is going to advertize during the American football’s biggest event for the first time, started a campaign entitled ‘Tweet Race’ on the platform of its social media hubs, engaging its fans across the country.
Following the success of its Super Bowl advertising debut last year, Kia Motors America is returning to the big game with a fully integrated and interactive marketing campaign incorporating TV, digital, print, social media and in-dealership components to introduce the all-new 2011 Optima midsize sedan. At the center of the initiative is a new 60-second spot that will air in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLV titled ‘One Epic Ride,’ and Kia will extend the campaign by giving away up to five Optimas through its ‘One Epic Contest.’
HUGO is inviting artists and designers from all around the globe to join the next round of its international competition, HUGO Create, which was kicked off back in 2008, and since that time gathered over 32 thousand submissions by nearly 15,000 designers. Every 2 months or so the brand announces one theme (so far, there has been 19 of them ranging from ‘The Skyline’ to ‘The Elements’ and ‘Visual Mixtape’), and now HUGO kicks off the next challenge entitled ‘Surreal Appeal,’ asking participants to interpret the idea of modern surrealism in their new designs.
For the second year in a row, Folgers® is teaming up with Grammy® nominated songwriter and former American Idol® judge, Kara DioGuardi for the 2011 Folgers Jingle Contest. Folgers invites Americans to put their spin on the iconic ‘The Best Part of Wakin’ Up™’ jingle for a chance to win $25,000, a mentoring session with Kara and the chance to appear in a future Folgers Coffee commercial. Last year’s grand prize winner, The Ethan Thompson Band from Missoula, MT, was chosen from among nearly a thousand entries submitted online for the inaugural contest.
Frito-Lay North America’s Lay’s and Doritos launched a Black History Month Art Contest that asks consumers to submit an original piece of art online for a chance to win $5,000 and a gallery showing in their local community. The overall winner of the creative competition will be chosen in part by consumer voting.