To date, promotions have reached tremendous popularity, during which the seller offers potential buyers not only to purchase marketable products or to use the service, but also to participate in the prize draw. Why is the practice presented today beneficial? What is the impact of a stimulating lottery on the purchase of real estate? Why so, and not otherwise? Answers to these and other equally exciting questions can be found in the process of reading this article.
How to increase sales?
The question of increasing sales today is asked by a great many entrepreneurs. And this is not surprising, because the diversity of products and services in the respective markets leads to strong competition among sellers. Such tools of influence that stimulate demand and promotion of marketable products and services are often called contests, sweepstakes, games, quizzes for consumers; much less likely they suggest holding a stimulating lottery.
An indicator of the significant effectiveness of this methodology to stimulate sales is an avalanche of prizes called "Buy and Win!" It was she who fell upon many consumers from television screens, colorful packaging, advertising banners and posters. It would seem that everyone is satisfied: buyers are given the opportunity to receive lottery win and, of course, a small dose of adrenaline; manufacturers of marketable products are watching with great pleasure how their goods are swept away from storefronts.
Not so simple!
No matter how colorful and easy everything sounds, it is worth bearing in mind that in practice, everything is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Such events are far from always equivalent to ordinary promotions. Subject to specific conditions, this advertising marketing campaign classified as a stimulating lottery. One way or another, such circumstances entail a wide range of rather serious obligations and restrictions for the organizer or organizers of the event, as well as for the winner or winners.
Unfortunately, it must be noted that the definition of “stimulating lottery” very rarely appears in a large flow of information. In addition, often this concept is completely unfamiliar to marketers and advertisers, who, incidentally, practice holding a stimulating lottery. It is important to note that the participants of this type of draws are also very far from the true understanding that this free distribution of prizes is nothing more than a lottery of a stimulating nature. This provision means that the participants are in any case endowed with certain rights, and the law is somehow established in their favor. But after all raffle prizes involves serious bonuses: tourist trips, powerful cars and even real estate.
It should be noted that today the state is only trying to "try on" the role of the regulator of the type of activity under consideration. This is evidenced by lottery laws, as well as the fact that the represented shares for the most part could not go through the registration procedure established by applicable law.By the way, nothing has been heard about the high-profile trials, which raises some doubts. This article clearly defines when an advertising campaign turns into a stimulating lottery and what are the most important consequences of such a frivolous (but only at first glance) transformation.
Transformation procedure
When does a regular promotion turn into holding a stimulating lottery? To begin with, it would be advisable to refer to the source, which is the Federal Law of 11.11.2003 “On Lotteries”. It is he who identifies the legal (legal) basis for regulating relations on the part of state bodies authorized for this, arising in the field of organization and further holding of the measures under consideration (this includes stimulating lotteries).
A stimulating lottery should be understood as one whose right to participate in which is in no way associated with the payment of a certain fee and whose prize fund is formed lottery organizers through personal investments, that is, own funds. This provision is determined by paragraph two of article three of the Federal Act presented above.
In addition, a lottery is nothing more than a game that is organized and conducted strictly by agreement. So, in it the organizer or organizers (one side) draws the current prize fund, and the participant or lottery participants (second party) are vested with the right to win only when he or they are recognized as winners in strict accordance with predefined conditions. This provision is spelled out in paragraph one of Article Two of the Federal Legislative Act on Lotteries.
Do not dwell on the definition of the game!
It is important to note that stimulating draws Do not imply a stop at the game level. The fact is that current Russian law does not directly establish this concept. Therefore, it will be advisable to proceed from the fact that under the game it is necessary to consider activities that are carried out for the sake of pleasure, directly associated with it, which is completely independent of the useful goal. In addition, each person participating in an event such as raffle prizes, one way or another enjoys, if only because it fulfills its conditions in a certain way.
Nevertheless, according to the first paragraph of Article 1063 of the Russian Civil Code, the lottery is described as not a simple game, but a game that is based on risk. Unfortunately, the current definition of “risk” is also bypassed by silence. If we turn to the authoritative experts in speech and word, we can balance the concepts of “taking risks” and “starting at random”, “daring”, “being subjected to chance”, “hoping for happiness” and so on. By the way, this is the term V. Dahl interprets. Thus, we can conclude that the modern concept of risk in the field of lottery games is defined as the possibility of occurrence of circumstances that make it impossible to experience lottery win or uncertainty about getting a prize.
According to Russian civil law, relations that are gradually being formed between the lottery organizers and its participants are based on an agreement. This provision is determined by the first paragraph of Article 1063 of the Civil Code. So, lottery laws suggest that this agreement between the two parties represented (the participant and the organizer of the game) is concluded on a voluntary basis. It is issued by issuing a receipt, lottery ticket or other documentation provided for by the methodology for conducting the lottery directly.This provision is defined in paragraph one of Article two of the Federal Legislative Act On Lotteries. It can be concluded that holding a stimulating lottery does not imply a mandatory written contract. In addition, the order of conclusion is established by none other than the organizer of the game.
Incentive lottery as a separate category
From the above information, it would be appropriate to consider Russian stimulating lotteries. Under this concept, a game based on risk is assumed, which is performed strictly according to an agreement concluded in the order specified by the organizer or organizers. In accordance with the presented document confirming the participation of one or another person in the event, the lottery organizer (first side) realizes the prize fund draw, and the lottery participant (second side), in one way or another, is vested with the right to win, provided that he is recognized as the winner according to the rules of the corresponding lottery.
It should be noted that the right to participate in the game (lottery) is in no way connected with the payment of a certain amount as a fee. So, stimulating lottery conditions suggest the formation of a prize fund at the expense of the event organizer. In simple terms, this is a game where it is the organizer who sets clear rules and also provides those or other prizes, and the participant fulfills the requirements and with the exception of making a payment, as well as is endowed with an unwarranted opportunity to receive a certain prize. It is important to add that this opportunity, one way or another, depends on the will of the case.
Signs of a stimulating lottery
Essence and lottery rules stimulating nature, as it turned out, are endowed with some signs that are mandatory. Among them are the following items:
- The participant does not need to pay a certain amount as a fee for participating in the event. It is important to note that in this case, the concomitant purchase of marketable products cannot be considered as a participation fee, because the goal of the product is nothing more than profit within the ordinary course of business.
- The formation of the prize fund is carried out exclusively at the expense of the event organizer.
- Required incentive lottery registration. So, between the participant and the organizer, a contract is concluded in accordance with a procedure predetermined by the organizer, according to which a variety of prizes is drawn, and the participant, in turn, is vested with the right to receive a prize when he is recognized as the absolute winner under the terms of the stimulating lottery.
- One way or another, a participant in a stimulating lottery is subjected to randomness and risks. In any case, the results of the draw cannot be predetermined, which is called a risk factor in modern literature.
Incentive lottery in practice
The theory, one way or another relating to the stimulating lottery, is fully considered and analyzed. Hence, it will be advisable to move on to a practical understanding of the issue. For this, it is necessary to test various promotions for the presence of factors and traits of a stimulating lottery.
Suppose a test object is defined by a set of words “buy and win” in one of the well-known search engines working in Russian. The search result shows that there are more than 2196 corresponding sites on the Internet. A lot, right? Along the way, it is advisable to find the phrase “stimulating lottery” in the general array of information found. The search result forms the conclusion that of the presented number of sites, only 264 resources contain the necessary phrase. Very shocking, although the results could be much worse.It is clear that testing each page is impractical and impossible even in the physical plane. However, the outcome is obvious.
Of course, it will be useful to take a practical example to consider the stimulating lottery in practice. For example, an advertising campaign that was conducted by a well-known manufacturer of cosmetics and cosmeceuticals of Russian origin. It is important to note that every month the winner of the game goes on an exciting trip to a particular city in Europe. The conditions for participation in the stimulating lottery are as follows:
- Cutting the coupon from the packaging of a commercial product.
- Filling out the form established by the event organizer sample.
- Sending the completed application to the organizer.
It is interesting to add that in this case, the algorithm for identifying the winner is not disclosed. In accordance with the classification of specialists, the action considered is nothing more than a standard stimulating lottery with a circulation orientation. Unfortunately, information about registration, as well as detailed conditions on the official resource of the organizer are not available. By the way, the following points are no less vivid examples of stimulating lotteries of a standard nature:
- The store makes an offer to make a purchase for an amount exceeding three hundred rubles, as well as to take part in the drawing of a ticket for tourists.
- In one of Moscow casinos a car is being played. In accordance with the rules established by the organizer, it is necessary to remove the ball with a certain number from the drum, which would coincide with the number of the entrance ticket.
- A well-known publisher at an exhibition of books is playing a free subscription to a modern magazine among those visitors who filled out a form and loaded it into a drum. From the latter, obviously, then “happy” profiles are selected.
What to do if the stock has become a lottery?
It is very important to know that the advertising campaigns discussed above are stimulating lotteries, what are the next steps? So, today there are several ways out of this situation, the first of which is the absolute deprivation of an advertising campaign of the signs of a stimulating lottery.
In accordance with the presented methodology, the organizer of an advertising campaign has an excellent opportunity to maneuver with the only and most important sign of the lottery of the stimulating plan - the risk factor. So, the requirement directly from the participant of the action of the advertising orientation of payment for taking part in any case makes it a sale of marketable products.
In addition, receiving money from participants who did not succeed in becoming prize winners, one way or another, leads to the enrichment of the organizer illegally. The creation of a prize fund by the above method is possible exclusively within the usual kind of lottery, the procedure and conditions for which is also subject to regulation. It should be noted that a categorical refusal to draw up a contract is impossible due to current civil law.
Promotion on the basis of a gift agreement
A very interesting way of turning an advertising campaign into a stimulating lottery is to conduct such a campaign, which is closely related to the issuance of prizes solely on the basis of a gift agreement. In this case, absolutely all the people who applied for participation in the current promotion, one way or another receive a prize. It is important to note that under the circumstances under consideration, the participant does not risk anything at all, because here the receipt of the long-awaited prize does not depend on the “will of fate”, but is solely the result of certain efforts.
To date, the organizers often because of the desire to attract the widest possible number of participants are able to offer not one, but several options in terms of prizes.It is not bad that in this situation the participant is given the opportunity of free choice. It often happens that a variety of a prize is revealed through a raffle. It is only necessary to erase the protective strip on the card, after which the prize will be assigned through the program, and later the player pulls it out of the bag. It is in this way that the distinction is made between the standard distribution of elements of the prize pool and the stimulating lottery. Eliminating the casual loss from the participant’s thinking, the organizer skillfully involves him in a different kind of risk. Now the variety of the planned prize depends on the will of chance. So, the promotion is again endowed with signs of a stimulating lottery, because the result is not dependent on the will of the case.
In addition, under the circumstances described in this chapter, the organizer is not able to somehow limit the number of prizes and the total capacity of the prize pool. The very innocent phrase “the presentation of the prize is planned for the first three applicants” or “the number of prizes is limited in some way” again creates a risk factor, because achieving a positive outcome again turns into unpredictability for the participant, because other people can get ahead of him.
Additional techniques
Another effective technique is to obtain a creative competition from an advertising campaign. It is important to note that this method is the most popular and common today. So, prizes from the advertiser are received only by those who in the best way realize the task, as a rule, of a creative nature. This can be writing a romantic letter, a spectacular story about the love of a certain product, the composition of the most original use of product packaging, and so on.
It is important to know that under the circumstances described, the participant is still at risk in terms of receiving a prize, however, the final result is no longer dependent on chance, but directly on the person’s creative abilities. It must be added that in the case presented, the final result is usually determined by the competent jury.
In conclusion, it should be noted that today the design of an advertising campaign in a certain order is the most competent way for manufacturers of commercial products. And this is completely unsurprising. All arguments are analyzed in detail in the materials of the article. And the state, one way or another actively involved in the regulation of the considered type of activity, effectively protects the rights of ordinary participants, and also establishes incentive lottery tax.