2011 Smart Fortwo

2011 Smart Fortwo

Marketing and promotions can take some interesting forms; especially in today’s society where smart phones, iPads, digital billboards and traditional advertising is all vying for consumers’ attention. That hasn’t stopped the Blood Centers of the Pacific from coming up with a unique giveaway to get people interesting in donating blood. The giveaway? A Smart car. Anyone taking bets on whether it is red?

Now for some markets this wouldn’t make any sense, but the Blood Centers of the Pacific are a non-profit located in Northern California. They also house the Blood Systems Research Institute. Quite the setup, especially since they are able to help some 50,000 people every year, but let’s get back to the “smart” giveaway.

The program first appeared in a press release in 2009; the program is call “Give blood. Get Smart.” The center said last year, “This promotion marks the first time our blood center is giving away a gift so large but our shortages are so severe and frequent that we knew we had to do something different,” commented Dr. Nora Hirschler, CEO of San Francisco-based Blood Centers of the Pacific. Now we haven’t seen the numbers from last year, but we are assuming that it was such a success that the center is doing it again for 2010.

This year’s program runs from July through the end of August 2010. Every 18 years-of-age and older blood donor will be automatically entered to win a new Smart Car Passion Coupe. Eight finalist will be randomly chosen throughout the months and will be invited out to the BCP’s headquarters in San Francisco on September 15, 2010. Each of the eight finalists will be given a key that may open the new Smart ForTwo Passion Coupe. All seven of the other contestants will receive a $100 gas card. Now that is a “smart” giveaway.

For more information on the BCP program, visit their website here. Not sure if you would want a Smart? Check out our Great Smart Car Road Trip series through California.