Beginners Guide to Comping Part 5
Entering competitions and prize draws – known as ‘comping’ – is a diverse and enjoyable hobby... and, with a bit of luck or skill, it can be profitable too! Here are Compers News editor Steve Middleton’s Top Tips for getting on the winning trail...
5. Write great slogans
Leading on from the last tip, the type of competition that gets by far the fewest number of entries these days is one that needs a slogan. Which means that if you make an effort to enter a slogan comp, then your chances of a win are statistically the best ever!
Don’t think that you can’t write a slogan. Even seasoned comping pros will tell you that they’ve probably won as many prizes with last minute efforts as they have with entries that they’ve spent a lot of time on. The simple fact is that no-one knows what judges might be looking for. Indeed, they might prefer a charming ‘amateur’ effort from the heart compared to a more professional sounding line – so EVERYBODY really does stand a chance in a slogan competition.
Some slogans – known as ‘chestnuts’ – win prizes over and over again. “Experts perfect them, connoisseurs select them” is probably the most famous chestnut of all, and this continues to win prizes to this very day. A generic, ‘one size fits all’ slogan like this remains the Holy Grail for slogan writers, but don’t be put off if you think that this sounds out of your league. Just try to praise the product and promoter, tie this in with the prize on offer to make the line ‘apt and original’, and you won’t be going far wrong.
Judges today also tend to prefer rhyming slogans, so perhaps write the headings ‘Product’, ‘Promoter’ and ‘Prize’ on a piece of paper, write down all of the related words you can think of in each column, and if you’re lucky a rhyme or recurring theme will jump out. It’s easier and much more fun than it sounds – honest!
