Dippin' Dots, which sells its frozen beads of ice cream, yogurt, sherbet and frozen ice in thousands of franchise stores and other locations, has partnered with Santa Monica, CA-based branded
entertainment production firm matrixx Productions on a user-generated online contest called the "Adventures of Packy Movie Mash-Up Challenge."
The contest includes online marketing
efforts and an SMS text message campaign powered by Mozes, Inc., a mobile marketing company located in Palo Alto, CA.
The SMS campaign, promoted in-store, prompts Dippin' Dots buyers to send a
text message to receive contest details and to become a member of the Dots' "Mob" mobile group in order to receive updates on their phones.
Contestants will use a matrixx-developed, Web-based
game tool at www.dippindots.com/contest to create 15 to 90-second animated films starring the Dippin' Dots' mascot, Packy. Dippin' Dots said users will be able to easily select various background
scenes, animations, props and soundtracks, and they will also have the ability to add bubble-text dialogue similar to a comic book.
The emerging media group at matrix created the content tool in
Flash 8 AS2. Following the contest period, the application will live on as a playable game on dippindots.com, and matrix has also seeded social networking profiles on MySpace and Facebook with links
to the game.
The Dippin' Dots contest started Friday, with entries due by August 7. A panel of company judges will then select the top five films based on visitor ratings and number of views, as
well as creativity and originality.
The selected movies will next be voted on by fellow contest entrants during a two-week period, with the top vote-getter receiving $2,500 and Dippin' Dots for a
year.
Following that, Dippin' Dots will post the five finalists on YouTube for another couple of weeks; the most viewed entry there will win a "wildcard" prize of $1,000 and a six-month supply of
Dippin' Dots ice cream. Dippin' Dots is based in Paduch, KY.