How Clever Marketing Made Sweepstakes Explode In The US

Wed 30th Jul, 2025

In this digital age, an increasing number of brands are using sophisticated marketing methods to gain new customers and hold on to existing ones. But it turns out that the old ways may well be the best. What's more, they can also be converted and adapted to modern-day usage.

 

Sweepstakes are a key example of this and, believe it or not, made their first appearance in the early 20th century, specifically the 1920s. Of course, it was a very different media landscape in those days when the main methods of advertising were newspapers, posters, and radio. Other opportunities included point of sale material in shops, and also by printing on the packaging itself.

 

For a classic, if fictional, example of what a typical sweepstakes looks like, then Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket is one of the best-known. Essentially, it offers consumers the random chance of winning a prize. The marketers hope that this will also involve a purchase, but they also have to offer an opportunity to enter the draw without having to buy anything. So, if the book or movie had gone into the minutiae of the terms and conditions, it would have highlighted those three vital words "no purchase necessary".

 

Moving back into the real world, there have been countless very high-profile sweepstakes from many of the world's biggest brands.

  • Now an annual favourite, the McDonald's Monopoly sweepstakes first passed "Go" back in 1987. In a history-making tie-in with the globally popular board game, customers at the fast-food chain received a card whenever they bought any food or drink (or could just ask for an entry). Depending on what they revealed on the card, they could win anything from a portion of fries up to a huge cash sum.
  • Two years later, the brewing giant Anheuser-Busch got in on the act with their Bud Bowl Sweepstakes. This was linked to the Super Bowl and made almost as huge an impact as one of their famous half-time ads. This gave Bud drinkers the chance to win cash prizes, and was also supported by their TV advertising.
  • To prove that sweepstakes could be effective in other ways too, in the same year, CBS launched their Get Ready Giveaway, which asked people to "Watch and Win" to be in with a chance of winning one of six million different prizes. It made for one of the network's most successful fall programming line-ups ever.
  • In a move designed to play on people's love of nostalgia, Oreo's 1990 "Twist" campaign not only had an on-pack sweepstake, it also sent out Chubby Checker to twist once again in a series of live store events.

There are countless others that we could go into here involving other huge brands like Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, and Burger King, and all have one thing in common: they're leaders in the field of effective marketing.

 

The sweepstakes casino

 

In recent years, a very different kind of sweepstakes has started to appear, and this involves online casinos. Look around in this sector and you'll soon see that sweepstakes are everywhere; these are casinos that sit just on the right side of the law, even in the states where online casinos are not officially allowed to operate. That's because they offer players sweepstakes coins, free of charge, to play specified games. There are generally two kinds of coins, gold coins and sweep coins, that can each be used in different parts of the casino.

 

The other difference is that, provided players reach certain play-through limits, sweepstakes coins winnings can be exchanged for cash. Often, people confuse sweepstakes casinos with social casinos - the latter are played just for fun with no opportunity to win actual cash.

 

The marketing objectives of sweepstakes

 

In both traditional sweepstakes and sweepstakes casinos, there are three main marketing objectives. The first of these is to encourage purchasing. Even though there is no need to purchase to enter a sweepstakes, players may perceive that they have a better chance of winning if they do. In the competitive world of brands, there is constant jockeying to achieve supremacy. By using a highly effective and unique sweepstakes mechanic, it can provide that competitive advantage. It's also been shown to make consumers think more favorably of a brand, especially if they've won a prize.

 

Finally, it can encourage repeat purchases. This is particularly true when the objective is to collect a set of pieces or tokens to qualify for a prize. It all adds up to a very powerful marketing tool for brands, and one that can have a far-reaching effect, especially if there's a PR aspect to it.

 

And, in a world where every conceivable event can attract those who like to speculate on its outcome, sweepstakes provide a fun and surprising way of doing this.


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