Scratchcards and competitions - sourcing and the law.

[KingRichard]

One of my drivers just came up with THE sexiest idea ever. In fact, I think I'm going to let him out of his car for a three minute break, just for being so conscientious and damn clever. Lucky him.

Anyway, the idea was that every customer that travels in my taxi's gets a scratchcard. The cards have prizes on them, from money off vouchers, to cashback, to mega prizes like a holiday for four, a new car, free gym membership blah blah etc.

So... Firstly, can an ordinary printer make scratchcards? How do you make them forge-proof? Are there any scary gaming laws that I have to consider? How are the prizes viewed by the taxman? - I'm sure it's easy enough to state 'Employees or family of the company are prohibited from entering' or something.

If anyone has any thoughts, or has run a promo like this I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say

[dcw@pr]

i'd have thought your biggest problem would be your drivers selling their batch to some guy down the pub for £50...

[richardxjr]

KingRichard said:

So... Firstly, can an ordinary printer make scratchcards? How do you make them forge-proof?

No, there are specialist security printers out there though. They will be expensive, as will the whole scheme. A lot of cost and ripe for abuse.

Do you think that many potential new customers will choose to call you because they will get a scratchcard that may win them a prize?

Anyone who reads a Sunday newspaper will be used to seeing worthless (rip-off even) scratchcards regularly and chucking them straight in the bin.

Sorry to be so negative, but it will be an expensive way to cheapen your brand in a gimmicky way.

Good on the driver for coming up with an idea though. Should be encouraged.

[KingRichard]

richardxjr said:

KingRichard said:

So... Firstly, can an ordinary printer make scratchcards? How do you make them forge-proof?

No, there are specialist security printers out there though. They will be expensive, as will the whole scheme. A lot of cost and ripe for abuse.

Do you think that many potential new customers will choose to call you because they will get a scratchcard that may win them a prize?

Anyone who reads a Sunday newspaper will be used to seeing worthless (rip-off even) scratchcards regularly and chucking them straight in the bin.

Sorry to be so negative, but it will be an expensive way to cheapen your brand in a gimmicky way.

Good on the driver for coming up with an idea though. Should be encouraged.

That's what we're all about... hype and cheese!

Add that on top of what they already get with us and it'll be a winner.

[Vesuvius 996]

KingRichard said:

One of my drivers just came up with THE sexiest idea ever. In fact, I think I'm going to let him out of his car for a three minute break, just for being so conscientious and damn clever. Lucky him.

Anyway, the idea was that every customer that travels in my taxi's gets a scratchcard. The cards have prizes on them, from money off vouchers, to cashback, to mega prizes like a holiday for four, a new car, free gym membership blah blah etc.

So... Firstly, can an ordinary printer make scratchcards? How do you make them forge-proof? Are there any scary gaming laws that I have to consider? How are the prizes viewed by the taxman? - I'm sure it's easy enough to state 'Employees or family of the company are prohibited from entering' or something.

If anyone has any thoughts, or has run a promo like this I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious.

Bad idea.

Edited to add that such a competition is highly illegal unless there is an "element of skill" involved, like a multiple choice question..................

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Tuesday 23 September 10:59

[KingRichard]

Could do a raffle I suppose... every journey you get given a number. Register online for a chance to win etc... also then builds a database to use for other marketing.

[KingRichard]

Vesuvius 996 said:

KingRichard said:

One of my drivers just came up with THE sexiest idea ever. In fact, I think I'm going to let him out of his car for a three minute break, just for being so conscientious and damn clever. Lucky him.

Anyway, the idea was that every customer that travels in my taxi's gets a scratchcard. The cards have prizes on them, from money off vouchers, to cashback, to mega prizes like a holiday for four, a new car, free gym membership blah blah etc.

So... Firstly, can an ordinary printer make scratchcards? How do you make them forge-proof? Are there any scary gaming laws that I have to consider? How are the prizes viewed by the taxman? - I'm sure it's easy enough to state 'Employees or family of the company are prohibited from entering' or something.

If anyone has any thoughts, or has run a promo like this I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious.

Bad idea.

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Tuesday 23 September 10:57

Is it really? fk

What about the raffle idea?

Thanks for the warning though... That's why I posted

[SeanyD]

The company you need to speak to is Edward Thompson Group in Sunderland, they do these for the national newspapers.

www.edwardthompson.com

[MitchT]

Vesuvius 996 said:

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious

It wouldn’t be if you had a lottery license… but surely an easier idea is just to buy a shed-load of Camelot scratch cards and give one to each customer rather than make your own.

[jamesuk28]

MitchT said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious

It wouldn’t be if you had a lottery license… but surely an easier idea is just to buy a shed-load of Camelot scratch cards and give one to each customer rather than make your own.

Thinking outside the box, I like it. Still a problem with potential drivers keeping the cards themselves. There would have to be pretty stringent procedures in place to prevent this.

[KingRichard]

jamesuk28 said:

MitchT said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious

It wouldn’t be if you had a lottery license… but surely an easier idea is just to buy a shed-load of Camelot scratch cards and give one to each customer rather than make your own.

Thinking outside the box, I like it. Still a problem with potential drivers keeping the cards themselves. There would have to be pretty stringent procedures in place to prevent this.

Surely that's quite easily solved with sequential card numbers, and keeping a note of card number xyz123 being given out on job 100001 for example. I'll get in touch with those guys above. Cheers you lot

[Paul R]

MitchT said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious

It wouldn’t be if you had a lottery license… but surely an easier idea is just to buy a shed-load of Camelot scratch cards and give one to each customer rather than make your own.

I like this idea, at least it's straight forward and you don't have the worry of digging out your company wallet when someone wins a big prize but I guess you do lose the chance to 'make it yours'

[richardxjr]

Paul R said:

MitchT said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

It's an illegal lottery, and you can be jailed for running it. I'm dead serious

It wouldn’t be if you had a lottery license… but surely an easier idea is just to buy a shed-load of Camelot scratch cards and give one to each customer rather than make your own.

I like this idea, at least it's straight forward and you don't have the worry of digging out your company wallet when someone wins a big prize but I guess you do lose the chance to 'make it yours'

Sorry, I like this idea even less

If you have to give out scratchcards, surely the whole point is that the brand & phone number are on there, & bold?

[richardxjr]

KingRichard said:

Could do a raffle I suppose... every journey you get given a number. Register online for a chance to win etc... also then builds a database to use for other marketing.

OK this could be developed. I like the database building. Sequentially (or, better, modulus-11) number the reverse of your business cards, with instructions on entry.

Win your fare back? 1 in 10 chance?

You just want them to hold onto that card with your brand & tel number on for a while.

Edited by richardxjr on Tuesday 23 September 12:14

[jamesuk28]

You mentioned a "super" prize, ie holiday for four. What about just having this as a prize, everytime somebody takes one of your cars (min £5 fare or whatever) they get entered into the grand draw. The more they use the service the more chances of winning.

To get around the gaming / lottery legislation I guess you would have to run it as "no purchase neccessary" which may be a bit of a mare.

[HiRich]

Scratchcards are a game of chance, and therefore a lottery. You need a licence (which you won't get) if any purchase is necessary - and the taxi fare would be considered a purchase.

The obvious option is "No Purchase Necessary" (find a promotional scratchcard for details and wording). Best bet would be to get people to phone (not a premium line) in and request one - limit one per day. You can open it over the phone and tell them if it's a winner (very important to make this independent and keep records). I don't see a benefit to you in allowing people to request them from the drivers.

Any decent printer will have access to latex printing. For security, the trick is to double-latex, or overprint a pattern to disguise the hidden wording (if not done properly you can shine a bright light through the card. Choose a printer you trust - they can also randomly sort, and you can verify that they have destroyed excess copies of winners. They will also advise on card thickness and print options.

There is some key wording necessary, both on the card and in the full T&Cs. I suggest you find an ongoing promotion, and use their wording with appropriate tweaks. I would include a reference that cards will only be issued whilst stocks are in the cab.

The biggest issue will be how much you trust your drivers. They could 'forget' to hand over the cards. There's no tax to pay for private customers. There could be an issue with account customers, but this is highly unlikely.

[PhilLL]

My first thoughts were like you later suggested - a prize draw.

If you can give them a 'prize flyer' with a code on it that they enter on the website along with their valuable details for entry into a draw to win a prize (which you might be able to blag for discount/free if you can provide good advertisement in exchange).

You could use the different codes for different drivers, maybe incentivise them for number of contacts they add to the database? Or track geographically etc?