Wenner Media’s Us Weekly has partnered with WeddingChannel.com for a promotional contest that offers readers the chance to win a celebrity-style wedding.
“Dream Wedding,” which is being promoted in Us Weekly, on its Web site, the WeddingChannel.com site and a joint microsite between the brands, launched June 2. The contest asks engaged couples to submit their stories online through June 12. Visitors to the microsite will then vote on twenty finalists chosen by Us Weekly and WeddingChannel.com, and the winning couple will receive wedding planning and goods worth up to $100,000.
“This was a no-brainer because, as a magazine, we target women in their 20s and 30s, and those are the women interested in weddings and getting married — it’s an extension of our existing demographic,” explained Gary Armstrong, CMO for Wenner Media. “This is an appropriate opportunity for our existing audience, and we’ve managed to monetize it by keeping people on the site longer and giving a service, a reward, for being in the Us Weekly online community.”
The prize package includes planning assistance from WeddingChannel.com, gown selection with a celebrity stylist, a “personal trainer to the stars,” and wedding coverage in Us Weekly and at www.usmagazine.com/wedding. The winner will be announced by July 16.
Armstrong noted that the magazine’s focus on celebrity lifestyles helps give the promotion some star power, and brings in the type of consumer that would be interested in her own all-out wedding bash.
“The Us Weekly consumer is in a wonderful life stage; she is driven by purchasing and wants to know what celebrities are doing and buying,” he said. “Everybody loves weddings and wants to know what’s hot and trendy and wants to feel special. With what’s happening in our climate with war and elections and economic challenges, we’re giving this wonderful escape during a challenging time.”
Us Weekly had a total paid and verified circulation of 1,928,852 as of December 31, 2007, per the ABC. As of press time, the contest had garnered more than 1,100 entries.
