• by Emily Burg , May 25, 2007

MasterCard and Home Depot have partnered for another national cross-promotional effort called "$100,000 Backyard Retreat Sweepstakes."

MasterCard cardholders in the U.S. are automatically entered when they use their cards at Home Depot between April 23 and June 23, and the winner will receive a $100,000 cash prize with no restrictions on how the money is spent.

The companies are supporting the sweepstakes with a fully integrated media platform that includes print, online and radio. Print ads were designed by The Richards Group and appear in publications such as Better Homes & Garden, Real Simple, and Ladies Home Journal, Home Depot spokesperson Jean Niemi told Marketing Daily.

Magazine inserts, which will run in Spanish and in English, feature an idyllic backyard setting with the heading "Make it a summer to remember. With a backyard retreat on us."

Full-page ads feature different backyard scenes--one of a luxurious poolside furniture adorned with towels and ice-filled glasses beckoning for people to relax on it, the other an evening scene of chairs gathered to invite cozy conversation around a fire pit-and read, "Win a $100,000 Backyard Retreat." Home Depot also will promote the sweepstakes with point-of-sale materials in more than 2,000 retail stores nationwide.

This is the third time the companies have partnered together under a strategic alliance designed to drive spending at Home Depot and on MasterCard products, Niemi explained.

Previous sweepstakes promotions included "The Backyard Makeover" and "The Dream Kitchen Makeover," both of which also offered customers the opportunity to win $100,000 by using their MasterCard at any Home Depot store.

Consumers automatically receive double sweepstakes entries when using The Home Depot Rewards MasterCard or The Home Depot Business Rewards MasterCard cards.