##CHALLENGE

Home furnishings retailer Crate and Barrel sought to drive gift registry creation and engage consumers online.

##SOLUTION + STRATEGY

In the Ultimate Wedding Contest, Crate and Barrel appealed to newly engaged couples across the nation. For a chance to win a $100,000 dream wedding, couples first created a gift registry with Crate and Barrel, then submitted three images and answered three questions. A round of public voting narrowed the field and a panel of judges ultimately picked the grand prize winner and runners-up.

Using Strutta’s Contest API, Crate and Barrel was able to:

• Validate each couple’s gift registry for entry
• Build a completely customized site
• Manage and moderate all content

As Crate and Barrel wanted to boost gift registries at their stores, all couples had to create a gift registry with Crate and Barrel with a minimum of $2,000 in products before entering the contest. When couples entered, Strutta validated the couple’s gift registry in Crate and Barrel’s database, and provided a link to the couple’s gift registry on their entry page.

Crate and Barrel built a completely customized site on top of Strutta’s robust contest platform. On the back end, Strutta hosted all content and powered all contest mechanics. Administrative tools made it easy for Crate and Barrel to manage and moderate all content while Strutta’s proprietary Fraud Guard ensured that any fraudulent votes were removed and only couples who abided by the rules would advance to the final round.

The contest was promoted across all channels: on Crate and Barrel’s web properties, through press releases and online advertising, through direct e-mail and blogger outreach, as well as in-store displays. Individual stories generated from the contest also gained coverage in local papers, media and blogs across the country.

This incredibly successful contest inspired other brands including Airbnb and Maggiano’s to run their own impressive wedding-themed campaigns using Strutta’s Social Promotion Platform.

##RESULTS

Crate and Barrel ran the Ultimate Wedding Contest in Spring 2010 and 2011 and saw outstanding results both years.

• 35 million in gift registry creation over two campaigns
• Over 16,000 couples shared their love story
• Over 3 million page views each year
• Half a million votes cast each year