We sat down with Diana Robbins of Scratchd Inc. and talked with her about the mobile giveaway space and how Scratchd is changing the way we do event giveaways.
1. Why and when did your company get started? What was the inspiration?
Similar interests in startups and idea sharing sessions brought my friend James and I together in 2011 when we decided on starting a business – landing on Scratchd in March 2012. We both shared a passion for the idea and vision before visiting Kartik for technical consulting in March 2012. As Kartik’s passion for the vision also grew, he decided to come on board to build the technology for the company.
2. How did you come up with the ‘name’ and concept – what’s the story behind the name?
We originally started the company thinking that we were really going to make some noise in the mobile advertising space. We launched an app that compiled multiple digital “scratch and win” offerings from many small businesses in the area. Our thought was, “if there is something in it for the consumer, and we add a fun and interactive element of winning, we would create a pull effect for mobile advertising.”
The name.. We didn’t yet have a name, and were planning to put a live feed of “Just Scratched” on our website. We felt “Just Scratchd” looked better, and then thought “hey, that would be a cool name for the company!” The .com domain wasn’t available, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. As we branch out to offer our customers multiple experiences(peel & win, spin & win), we are excited to keep the “Scratchd” name to remember we started with scratch and win. We will always have that story to tell.
3. What is your “big innovation?” What’s the coolest features of your tech?
Our biggest innovation is our new self-serve SaaS platform we are launching on Feb 1 for the Scratchd On-Site product, which will allow our customers to “build their own” promotions in minutes. It is fully customizable from choosing the data collection fields they want to include, to setting the offers (or giveaways), and the number of each offer they have to give out. The number of each offer/the total number of offers given out sets the probabilities, and our customers can have the confidence that when an offer runs out, it will no longer be scratched. Multiple unique feature offerings are planned and with a simple click of a box on the creator, our customers can include them in their promotion.
4. How does your technology change the game for event professionals?
Our technology allows event professionals to engage the audience in an exciting and interactive way, while offering a new opportunity for collecting leads. The emotional element of “winning” creates a positive interaction where customers will be happy to supply the data that will help them “get and stay connected” with the brand.
Scratchd offers a fun way to give away prizes at an event and the campaign creator gives event professionals the flexibility of creating campaigns on the spot based on what they have to offer that day, even if it is last minute!
Sponsorship is often about impressions. Scratchd offers the opportunity to engage the audience with an interactive impression where the positive interaction creates a memorable experience for the consumer.
Although this feature is not yet offered in our self-serve product(coming very soon), we allow brands to deliver digital vouchers through SMS or email to be used after the event. This allows brands to drive traffic and sales after the event, while saving the hassle of needing to plan a large number of giveaways and “swag” prior to the event.
5. Is it possible to measure ROI on your product?
Our customers can refer to a campaign manager to watch the success of their campaign in real-time, analyze and export data collected.
6. What do your best customers love about you?
The familiarity of the proven scratch and win concept puts business owners and marketers at ease and our low touch self-serve step-by-step creator makes the process of launching a promotion a desirable experience. We plan to offer more exciting digital experiences, while keeping to “chance to win” concepts that are well understood by businesses and consumers. Although we have added many fancy digital features, it is a piece of mind for our brand partners they they, as well as consumers understand the overall concept.
7. What industry trends and shifts are you following that you think are important?
Using touch-screen devices in-store or as an engagement tool in an event setting seems to be a growing trend. Although it is a growing trend, there are not a lot of solutions out there that allow businesses to quickly and easily create exciting and interactive content for the purpose of engagement.
Most brands are looking to collect data/emails at the point of purchase, or when exhibiting, and multiple studies are showing that consumers are becoming more resistant to sharing this information without receiving something in return. Scratchd offers an exciting opportunity to provide consumers with a “chance to win” for sharing their data.
8. Any lessons learned from the trenches?
We learned that the “app download” was a participation barrier and that offering our solution on the tablet offered much more value for event professionals, as well as the audience at the event. Although we originally thought the app was a fit for event professionals, we learned pretty quickly that consumers are overloaded with apps these days and arn’t interested in downloading an app for one time use. After spending 1 full year on the mobile solution, we pivoted to focus on tablet engagement and saw a major improvement in response on both sides.
Have to ask: What’s your favorite app? (Not your own)
I just looked at my phone. I would be lying if I didn’t say Instagram.
If you want to check Scratchd out, it is completely free to create a promotion and demo it on their website. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Leah Layzell
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