One good turn deserves another

"The promotion raises the bar for radio competitions in South Africa by offering the largest prize ever given away on-air as well as by running over seven weeks rather than the six week duration of most radio promotions", says Simon Parkinson, promotions manager at 94.7 Highveld Stereo.

"We never lost momentum; in fact momentum grew as the competition worked towards its climax. The second last day of the promotion saw the largest number of registrations, showing that Joburgers got more and more desperate to get an exclusive invite to the Winners Only party at Emperors Palace," he adds.

Cash prizes worth over R500 000 were given away and one lucky listener, Shaun Jonker, walked away with a Zotos-built luxury cluster in Crowthorne worth R2.5 million (including furnishing from Wetherleys) as well as rates and taxes for the first year) and a Volvo S60 valued at R260 000. Total entries amounted to two million, with the highest daily total of 135 000 entries received on the second last day of registration. The next highest was 123 000 on the last day.

Emperors Palace experienced strong growth surges in footfall during key periods in the promotion, according to Bob Yearham, chief operating officer at Emperors Palace. "The "Winners Only" party was an incredible success. Leveraging off such a huge promotion, a number of new guests were exposed to the resort and its numerous facilities," says Yearham.

Adds Karen van der Merwe, marketing manager at Emperors Palace: "We also wanted to demonstrate member benefits to listeners and encourage new enrolments for Winners Circle. The competition was most successful in helping us to achieve those goals."

Says Highveld station manager Ravi Naidoo: "We have never done anything on this scale before. Highveld managed to exceed its expectations with this promotion, attracting new listeners to the station and winning more time spent listening from our existing audience. This promotion is going to be a tough act to follow."