feeds:run_dates

feeds:market

feeds:mechanic

feeds:client

They are not interchangeable and they do not reach the same people. A decision framework rather than a recommendation.

INSIGHTS

Comparison

A rebate and a sweepstakes both get a shopper to do something at shelf. That is where the similarity ends. They cost differently, they measure differently, and they reach different people. **Choose a rebate when you need measurable sell-through.** A rebate requires a purchase. Every entry is a receipt, which means every entry is proof that a bottle left a shelf. You can count units, identify the retailer, see the transaction date and know how many qualifying products were in the basket. That makes a rebate the right instrument when the question is whether the programme moved volume. One Irish whiskey campaign produced 1,283 bottles sold, a 25% lift against the prior year, and 847 paid submissions, every one traceable to a validated receipt. Those are not modelled figures. The cost structure follows from the mechanic. You pay per qualifying purchase, so budget scales with success. That is comfortable if volume is the objective and uncomfortable if the budget is fixed. **Choose a sweepstakes when you need reach.** A sweepstakes does not require a purchase, and in most states it legally cannot. That removes the friction and widens the funnel considerably. Cost is fixed at the prize, so the budget does not scale with participation. What you give up is proof. A sweepstakes entry tells you someone was interested. It does not tell you whether a bottle moved. **They reach different people, which is the part most brands miss.** A rebate, by design, only ever reaches people who have already bought the bottle. A sweepstakes, with no purchase required, reaches people who have not bought it yet. That is the strongest practical argument for running both rather than choosing between them. If a brand's rebate programme is converting current buyers efficiently, a sweepstakes is not a duplicate spend. It is access to people the rebate is not reaching. **A working framework** Use a rebate when you need to prove sell-through, when you are defending shelf space with data, when the budget can flex with volume, or when the objective is a first-party list of confirmed buyers. Use a sweepstakes when you need awareness at the top of the funnel, when the budget must be fixed and known in advance, when the prize itself carries brand meaning, or when you are trying to reach beyond your current buyer. Use both when the year has room for it, and measure them against different questions. Judging a sweepstakes on sell-through will make it look like a failure. Judging a rebate on reach will do the same in reverse.

feeds:mechanic_intro

feeds:step1_body

feeds:step2_body

feeds:step3_body

feeds:step4_body

feeds:step5_body

feeds:step6_body

04

03

02

05

06

01

feeds:results_intro

feeds:client

feeds:m1_label

feeds:m1_value

feeds:m2_label

feeds:m2_value

feeds:m3_label

feeds:m3_value

feeds:m4_label

feeds:m4_value

feeds:hero_m1_label

feeds:hero_m1_value

feeds:hero_m2_label

feeds:hero_m2_value

feeds:quote_text

feeds:quote_role

feeds:client

Every entry is a validated receipt, so every entry is evidence a bottle left a shelf. Budget scales with volume, which is comfortable only if volume is the objective.

No purchase required means a much wider funnel and a fixed cost. What you give up is any evidence that product moved.

A rebate only reaches people who already bought. A sweepstakes, with no purchase required, reaches people who have not bought yet. Run alongside a rebate it is not duplicate spend, it is new reach.

Tell us the brand, the window and the retail footprint. We'll show you what a campaign would look like.