Giving away a brand new Tesla Model 3 to one lucky winner may sound too good to be true, but that's exactly what WeyMedia’s creditcardGenius did when they launched their new product GeniusCash.
Here is the story of how Stephen Weyman, Maria Weyman and the entire WeyMedia team planned and executed the product launch, its impact on brand trust and business growth, and the lessons they learnt.
Go big or go home.
creditcardGenius is a New Brunswick based smart credit card matchmaker and comparison engine from WeyMedia. Inspired by Mr.Beast's famous giveaways, Stephen and Maria Weyman wanted to launch this new product with a customer-focused, year-long campaign that ended in an audacious giveaway – a Tesla Model 3, worth over $50,000. To make it happen, creditcardGenius needed to give away at least 5,000 GeniusCash payouts to their readers.
The devil is in the details.
Working remote but united in purpose: team Weymedia
The strategy was simple and straightforward: a big prize at the end of a year-long contest would draw immediate attention to the new product and make the hype around GeniusCash self-sustaining. The team (who work remotely from different cities in Canada, coast to coast, while remaining highly collaborative) planned every last detail meticulously, and executed a series of coordinated activities.
They spent weeks gathering feedback to understand if a Tesla Model 3 appealed to their audience, and if that was indeed the right prize to spark desire and propel trust towards GeniusCash and creditcardGenius. They also made sure the numbers and figures made business and financial sense to the company.
They leveraged the strong audience base of social media followers and 40,000+ newsletter subscribers to build momentum.
They followed this up with concurrent contests where they gave away $200 for liking and sharing their social posts.
They determined that 5,000+ entries will be needed to make this work, so they established a “fail safe” right from the beginning. They clearly mentioned in all communication that it would be a Tesla Model 3 or $10,000 in cash for one lucky winner, depending on the total final, qualified entries.
Every territory presents challenges.
Several hurdles – foreseen and unforeseen – had to be overcome by the creditcardGenius team to launch GeniusCash. First, they had to explain their new product, GeniusCash, to their readers. There was a LOT to communicate, in terms of the product details and value, the giveaway details, the rules, and about the big prize itself, without losing sight of the product they were launching.
Having to reach 5,000 GeniusCash payouts meant relying on third-party credit card issuers and fulfilling all payouts, filtering out scammers, and troubleshooting issues, constantly. It took several months to reach the first 1,000 GeniusCash payouts. Despite having a plan B, the team wanted to push through to make good on their original commitment. The contest deadline was extended by 1 month. They didn’t just meet the 5,000 but exceeded it by 1,600!
Another challenge was the actual purchase and delivery of the Tesla Model 3. Unlike traditional vehicles, you can't just walk into a Tesla dealership and drive out as a proud Tesla owner. You need to place an order on their website, pay a reservation fee, and wait for the estimated fulfillment date. Due to the pandemic and chip shortage, the estimated time of delivery started off at “six months or more.”
Additionally, the team quickly learned that transferring ownership of a Tesla from a company to an individual winner posed many logistical problems, including winner losing access to Tesla’s welcome bonuses.
And then, a good problem.
The contest began on September 1, 2021, and ended on June 30, 2022. They fed all 6,600 approved entries into a random name picker called AppSorteos... and they had a winner!
Tony Yip with the Tesla Model 3 he won
The creditcardGenius team guided Tony via Zoom on every step of the ordering process, including transfer of funds to reserve the vehicle and registration on the Tesla App. The team then started planning the final handover celebration scheduled in Vancouver for Feb 2023.
In Nov 2022, things moved quickly at Tesla’s end they delivered the car the same month. The team suddenly had only 2 weeks to execute all their plans. Despite all the challenges, creditcardGenius made the giveaway happen and Tony got to drive away in his Tesla Model 3!
We could go on and on, but nothing like watching the joy on Tony’s face when the promise was kept, eh? You can watch the full delivery and celebration video here.
Driving up business and growth
Maria and Stephen Weyman
“Our Tesla giveaway has been a fantastic vehicle (pun intended) to get closer to our GeniusCash customers, to build their trust and sustain interest in the product, like we had hoped for,” says Stephen Weyman. “We saw tremendous growth in our customer base throughout the year of our giveaway, and we see the momentum continue.”
Stephen and Maria share their top lessons:
A flashy prize is not enough to onboard customers. Hard work, planning, discipline and perseverance do.
Launching a new product + announcing the giveaway meant planning and working with extra caution to make sure the new product did not drown in the other messaging.
When the results you were hoping for are delayed, don’t give up. Analyze the data, make adjustments, and get creative.
If you choose to do a giveaway, make sure you completely understand the prize fulfillment process. Maria Weyman cautions us, “Don’t assume it will be easy to fulfill because you have interacted with another product in the same category. In our case, we found out quickly that giving away a car and giving away a Tesla are not the same.”
If you and your entire team are not super excited and committed to the cause, your audience will pick up on it. Don’t promise them anything YOU wouldn’t be excited about winning.
The Tesla Model 3 giveaway was not a one-time experiment for the WeyMedia team. Their next giveaway “Mountain of Prizes” is live on moneygenius.ca. In this, they are giving away 15 prizes in increasing value, with a combined prize value of over $20,000.
To enter, participants must visit moneygenius.ca, and apply for any personal finance product with the GeniusCash logo. If their application is approved, they will receive some GeniusCash and an automatic entry into giveaway. In compliance with Canadian gaming laws, mail in ballots will be included into each draw.
Contestants can have up to 5 valid entries. Each entry gives them a chance to win any of the prizes that still haven’t been given away. Whenever a winner is chosen, they need to answer a skill testing question. The more people that enter, the more the prizes get unlocked, and the more winners that are declared.