Jaclyn Trop / The Detroit News

Scratch and play. Spin and win.

Spend an evening surfing the Web and you could amass a wealth of freebies, from soda to sunscreen to spa visits.

But online "instant win" games offer more than a chance to get something for nothing. These brief diversions help companies generate buzz and anchor the bottom line for ePrize, an interactive promotional company in Pleasant Ridge that shines as one of the few bright spots in Michigan's bleak economy.

"Promotions are really hot right now," said Larry Shaw, director of client research for advertising consultant firm Borrell Associates. "Everyone's looking to get something."

As companies capitalize on the Web's culture of instant gratification, they are shifting their marketing dollars from static display ads to online giveaways, coupons and contests. EPrize creates promotions that influence consumers to take action, from referring friends and completing surveys to visiting brick-and-mortar stores and making purchases.

The aim is to translate Web traffic into measurable results for clients, who include Fortune 100 businesses like Coca-Cola, American Express and General Motors Corp.

Using prizes as incentives, games give consumers a reason to visit a business' Web site and engage in a two-way dialogue with the company's marketing arm.

"If (consumers) are on the fence, that promotion might make a difference in whether they buy Jelly Belly or not," said Rob Swaigen, director of marketing for Jelly Belly Candy Company, which has run several promotions through ePrize.
Giveaways a growth business

Meanwhile, more companies are recognizing the value of attaching their name to instant-win games. EPrize claimed $49.6 million in revenue last year, and has grown so quickly since its founding in 1999 that quarterly meetings are held at the Detroit Zoo. The company has awarded more than $20 million in prizes since Jan. 1.

Online promotions are one of the fastest-growing categories for media spending, according to Shaw. A Borrell report shows that the market for games, contests and sweepstakes is expected to reach $6.25 billion in 2012, up from $840 million in 2007. The phenomenon is global -- ePrize promotions were viewed in 231 countries last year.

Promotions are intended to "get people to raise their hands and engage in an online experience to motivate the client's desired consumer behavior," said Matt Kates, ePrize's vice president of strategy.

A registration page, which serves as a gateway to the games, collects information about players' habits and demographics. According to a recent report from Jupiter Communications, 82 percent of consumers are willing to share personal information in exchange for the opportunity to play a game.

"Once you enter a promotion, the brand knows who you are, where you live, your age, and whether you're male or female," said Alesya Opelt, ePrize's vice president of marketing.

Devoted players pore over Internet message boards to discuss strategy, find hyperlinks to new games and share proof-of-purchase codes, which are required to play some games. The forums also provide a sense of community for online gamers, who often report back on their winnings (or lack thereof) and encourage each other to keep playing after striking out.

The level of personal information consumers are willing to divulge depends on the prize, Shaw said. Most players readily share their names, e-mail addresses and ZIP codes, but are less willing to reveal household income, gender, birthdates and maiden names. "It raises red flags when you get to that level of information," he said.

Most "instant win" prizes, ePrize's bread-and-butter trade, fall below the federal government's $600 threshold for taxable income and attract millions of players, who give up their phone numbers, demographic information and waking hours to compete.

"The job is all about the prizes," said Roy Krauthamer, ePrize's vice president of fulfillment services. "In essence, what ePrize does is give free stuff away."

Sweepstakes prizes are sometimes more difficult to unload. Big-ticket winnings, like a $27,000 cruise for four with a $15,000 T-shirt encrusted in diamonds with the cruise line's name, sometimes go unclaimed due to their hefty tax obligation. Another prize, 75 hours on a private jet (a $75,000 value), would have required the winner to pay about $20,000 in taxes at the end of the year.

Though ePrize does up to three redraws to determine a winner, Krauthamer's team encourages clients to offer prizes that are "easy to give away." When clients insist on promoting higher-end prizes to appeal to a niche market, ePrize tries to persuade them to offset the tax burden by offering part of the prize in cash.

"Everybody accepts cash," Krauthamer said. "Cash is king."
Bringing sketches to life

While the pay-off is immediate, creating a promotion takes months.

"It all starts with a pencil," said Darrin Brege, senior design strategist and illustrator. "Here's a huge technology company, and we start out with pencil sketches on printer paper."

Brege, an improvisation actor behind most of the voices for ePrize's sound-based promotions, recently completed a series of safari-themed sketches for a Jelly Belly campaign set to launch this fall. Nearby, artists were at their computers, using Flash animation to breathe life into the jungle scenes.

Across the room, project manager Dave Janisse was testing a promotion his team created for Pier 1. The back-to-school-themed game, called "U-room," requires players to design their own virtual rooms for the chance to win a $25 Pier 1 gift card in an instant drawing. Players can nominate the Top 20 designs, from which Pier 1 then chooses a winner for the grand prize, a gift card worth $1,000.

The campaign's viral component can generate an exponential increase in Web traffic, as players can opt to send a hyperlink to their friends and solicit their vote.

"But even if your room is not that great, you still have the chance to win $25 in an instant win," Janisse said, as he added virtual chairs, couches and drapes to his own entry, "Dave's room." A game may start with a sketch, but a promotion begins with the rules. "The rules control all," said Gabe Karp, executive vice president and general counsel. "The irony is it's the most important document of the promotion and no one ever reads it."

Campaigns must comply with state laws governing lotteries, gambling, privacy and spam. Since most of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of mobile and interactive marketing, ePrize has helped set legal precedent, applying old laws to new technology.

When a promotion has passed through ePrize's team of producers, project managers, artists, and engineers, it returns to Karp for the "legal sign off."

"It's one of the most important steps in the process," he said. "You can't un-ring that bell. Once you're live, you're live. Launching without legal sign off is equivalent to crossing over double yellow lines."