Great idea! I'll take the hardware! Just skip the contest and give to me! ;). Seriously though, I think it's a good idea and I'd enter. If it was a contest like Bee's last one, I wouldn't have enough people to get votes based on popularity. I'd try anyway though. No advice as to how to run it or where to advertise. Keep us informed.

I'm not so sure about the voting thing. On the one hand, it drives people to your contest site as the contestants campaign and their friends go to vote. On the other hand, capturing the voters as potential future customers is very difficult. For instance, I, who have a good memory by and large, remember exactly what Bee's backsplash looks like, but not the name of the company. I remember what your backsplash looks like too, and could ask either of you if I want to know about what you have, but I don't think hers gave any advertising advantage with me.

If you're paired with another home design site, you don't have as much opportunity to plaster the name of Horton Brasses on the voting pages.

I think it might be better for the company to do something like have the home decor people post their pictures, and let people vote on which of the new lines would look best in each kitchen, then have a drawing among the entries for the winner, or something like that. I guess it could even be number of total votes. The important thing is to have the people really interact with the product, not just zoom in, vote for their friends, and scoot away without doing either company any real promotional good.

Pillog...great advice. aside from the marketing angle, the popularity contest part makes me sad. You gave me more to think about.

What do you think of contests where people have to write something?

Breezy...seriously the hardware is really nice. Made by the same company that manufactures peacocks stuff.

I will be starting my remodel in 5 weeks. Sign me up! I have not purchased my hardware yet and would love to see the new stuff coming out.

Plllog's combination of voting and random winner really appeals. The second popularity contest Bee went for got a little out of control. Some blogs select totally random comments for a winner, but you want to make sure the person actually needs hardware so you can use their photos as a promotion.

A blog I read recently selected a book winner based on their written comment and that worked out well. You'd have to announce the criteria in advance to avoid too much confusion or drama. Would it be based on need or kitchen design?

Identify the goal clearly before deciding and that should help you with your decision.

I'd contact John & Sherry from Young House Love. They have a huge following. Literally hundreds of thousands of pageviews per month. They're a really fun pair of DIYers who have already done one kitchen reno. They just bought a new house, and have been renoing it. The current hardware on their kitchen cabs looks like eyeballs. Maybe this contest will push the kitchen to the forefront on the projects list for them.

They both write for the blog, so you get that great he said, she said perspective on things. One of my fave house blogs.

I don't know about the online contests with writing. In California, there have been quite a number, offline, which I think were actually meant as a way around gambling laws that apply to straight out raffles. Instead, they have an "essay contest" with an entry fee, and pretty much choose randomly between the essays submitted that follow the rules (e.g., less than 150 words saying why you want the prize). Therefore, my opinion is that it's a clever stratagem, but pretty meaningless.

If you have a writing element that is going to be prominently featured, like the old time jingle contests where the jingles were used in ads, then go for it. If it allows you to include more people in the contest because of various local rules, go for it. But it would be a real shame if someone who would be the happiest winner, whose kitchen would be the best showplace for the hardware, didn't win because she/he didn't have great English skills or wasn't clever enough. Yeah, Johnliu deserves to win something for his quick and literate wit, but since owning a kitchen that needs new knobs is something that just about anybody with a steady job and good budgeting skills (i.e., to be able to actually own a home) can do, it seems a shame to limit the winners to the Johnlius of the world.

Lax--I originally thought of Young House Love bc they have such a huge audience but the two downers there are: 1) they already have there set giveaway system and it wouldn't benefit HB with how they do it 2) their audience is mainly DIY'ers and I think the demographic for promoting this new line is people with...more money to spend. The new hardware is pretty pricey. We're talking about a few grand for an medium sized kitchen, including appliance handles.

Steff--I so agree about the popularity thing!

Pillog--It would be good to get a kitchen that will really showcase the hardware. I'm thinking we should maybe do it on the HB blog with photo submissions and Orion himself can choose the winner. It would be, however, a huge disappointment if we only got a few entries.

I wrote my response earlier today, and then my computer crashed before I got to the Preview Message.

I agree with the ideas you have. When the backsplash contest happened it was a call for entries--and you submitted your photo of the space that you wanted to use the product. Then a "committee" decided what space would be the best choice to showcase the product. You could have other bloggers help with the decision.

The rules of the contest involved a guarantee of photos of the tile installed. I guaranteed this by providing a credit card, which I used to purchase additional backsplash tile anyway. If I ended up not using the tile and not providing the photos, then my card would have been charged the cost of the items. It makes sense...you want something out of it. I got some great tiles and they ended up with great photos that have been used in all sorts of blogs and online sources. The photos were professionally taken and paid for by the tile company.

If you do random drawing, you can give an extra "chance" if they post it with a link on their facebook page, and also if they "tweet" it. You could also make there be a minimum number of entries needed, so people will have to get the word out.

Good luck!

Not really a contest type, so no advice there..... sorry! However, we're finishing our build and I will be in the market for hardware. Can you post a link to this hardware you speak of? Struggling to find larger, furniture styled hardware with a sprinkle of old world and a dash of whimsy. Thanks!

I like Orion choosing the best kitchen to display the hardware, and it sounds like what Bee described as well. (Sorry I mixed up the two contests.) I think going to social media and all to drive people to the site to enter the contest would be great. Maybe give them incentives for checking back.

Just as incentives for entering, how about a discount coupon for those who enter? 5%, or one free knob with a minimum number in total, or something. Maybe have a gift certificate for the best photoshopped detail showing the hardware in place (if you want to encourage that). You don't have to give away the whole store on incentives. People like free stuff, even if it's just a little thing.

Could HB buy some banner ads on the contest that would bring traffic to their site and contest? I know Yahoo would be a fortune but maybe on sites like this one or a variety of home blogs? I have no clue how much those costs are.

remodelfla, I know you didn't mean that to be funny....but I'm cracking up....maybe the ad will be a pop up on GW!!!! lol

Remod--I don't think Orion is that much of a banner ad kind of guy but I am going to refer him to this link anywho.

Beekeep--You are the bee's knees! I think the committee idea is great! A terrific way to get other bloggers involved.

Thanks everyone for the help. Seriously!

Tinycastle--The stuff is not posted on the Horton Brasses site yet. I have the brochure in my email but It's probably not my place to start passing it around. You can contact Orion at Horton Brasses and I am sure he can send you images and give you all kinds of info. Also, if you go to the Armac site, look up the Bakes Pull and the Queslett. There are a few other pieces, too, but I can't recall their names right now.

Hey Bees... I'm glad to bring joy and cheer to all!

I wrote out a variety of responses to various comments on this thread but then deleted them all. I then decided to just say two things: Deva is my hero and has done all the legwork on the contest. We will be working on the committee and ground rules to make sure the contest is both fun and effective.

Two-I will be posting a PDF brochure with the new hardware on our blog today. So, keep an eye out, it will be up later on.

Three-Thank you all for all of your suggestions and comments. It is much appreciated.

Awwww, Orion's such a sweetie! (I'm all misty eyed)

I won a credit to buy from one of the online supply companies via a Facebook entry last year. They asked for an April Fools anecdote (coincidence unintended). A writing contest. Your company could do the same, asking for a photo and a sob story or something like that. The promo needs to go on for a bit of time so that the advertising value continues. Blogs can refer to it. From the ad point of view, apparently Facebook is the best way to contact lots of people in a certain cohort very fast. Be sure to have the contestant's entry list out an actual product by name and number. Nothing generic--the purpose is to send the buyer to the company website and look at the goods.

Disclaimer: Not usually a Facebook user myself.