By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY: LG has announced a quiz-based incentive program to reward retailers who can display knowledge of the LG product range. LG retailers who log into a dedicated website and answer questions correctly will be entered into a draw to win individual prizes.

This promotion, known as the Ultimate Spectator Trade Promotion, kicked off today, with the first set of 10 questions currently on the site. Each Monday the site will refresh the questions, meaning that for the six-week duration of the promotion participants will have multiple chances of winning prizes. These prizes include LG notebooks, grocery vouchers, petrol vouchers and LG home theatre systems.

In order for an entry to be deemed correct, 7 out of 10 questions must be answered correctly.

Concurrent with the individual contest is a store promotion, in which the retail outlet with the most correct entries winning a Dream Maker voucher from Adrenalin, worth up to $10,000. Despite the large value of this store prize, it is dwarfed by the total prize pool of over 60 individual rewards.

The store prize may be an incentive for an owner to encourage their charges to enter the competition, although an LG spokesperson said that “the focus is on the…individual prizes.”

Contrary to this view, however, is that of LG category manager, AV and IT, Patricia Cheung, who said, “Both [prizes] are as significant as each other.”

Cheung also highlighted the core reason for this promotion. “It’s more strategic than that [offering prizes], it is providing ammunition to enable retail staff to advise customers of LG audio visual products,” said Cheung.

In this regard, LG has distinguished itself from its “highly competitive” pre-Olympics AV opponents by directly encouraging the retail staff. Whereas Sony, Samsung and Panasonic are all focusing directly on the consumer, LG is hedging its promotional activity, offering rewards to both the person who sells the stock and the consumer who plugs it in.

When entering the competition, participants are required to enter some personal information, including their mobile phone number and e-mail address, in addition to the full details of their store. Cheung sought to ensure all entrants that these details are only going to be used to communicate information about the promotion.

“[Entrants] shouldn’t be concerned we’re going to blitz them in any other way,” said Cheung.

In addition to this retail promotion, LG is also running a consumer promotion, with more information on that available here.