Budget Rent-A-Car has an interesting viral marketing campaign going on right now. It’s called “Up Your Budget” and the prize is a hefty $10,000. The deal is it isn’t just one prize, there’re many and people are treasure hunting for clues all over the country.
Budget hired P.R. guru and blogging diva B.L. Ochman. She put together this campaign, already in it’s fourth week. According to her blog, they’ve already given away $110,000 and there’s more to be found.
The way it works is people have to find a 2-inch sticker in various locations, 11 so far, and call the 800 number on the sticker to get their prize. The campaign ends just before Thanksgiving.
Apparently, some people have become somewhat obsessed with the whole scavenger hunt. She commented on here blog, “Players, who admit they have become obsessed, are flying to distant cities to compete, riding Greyhound buses and driving all night to crawl around under benches, signs and planters looking for the stickers, which they find by watching daily video clues and reading clues throughout the Up Your Budget blogs.”
If users go to the blog for this heady event, clues are available, including video clues to give the users some direction. Then the users buy the bus tickets, plane tickets, etc., and go gallivanting across the country in search of a sticker worth $10,000.
While she said going over the metrics will also be a bit heady, she said it’s loads of fun and tons of work. It’s also a viral marketing campaign hitting its stride. So, if you elect to start looking, good luck. I wonder if the stickers are “scratch-n-sniff?”
John Stith is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
