WEST CHESTER, Pa., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- In a room of more than a
thousand QVC employees and company vendors, winners of the inaugural Qforce
contest were announced yesterday at the Studio Park headquarters of QVC,
Inc. Qforce is the buzz marketing contest of employee ambassadors whose
challenge was to blanket the media with images of a t-shirt emblazoned with
the Qforce logo.
With more than 725 employees entering into the contest, media
placements ran from national talk shows to local print media to viral
outlets. The grand prize winner was Bern Gallagher, a five-year QVC veteran
who implemented a belly-flop contest/fundraiser to benefit Cure Autism Now.
The contest entrants sported the Qforce t-shirts as they demonstrated their
technique before a panel of judges.
Gallagher, inspired by his nephew's battle with autism, got his
flop-fest talked up on a local morning news show in the fourth largest
media market - then went national with the story when video of his
fundraiser hit the viral media. QVC host Dave King emceed the event where
20 people took their first- class flops to a local swimming pool.
Three other contest winners were selected for their unique approach,
breaking through the clutter as brand ambassadors. These entries included a
group of employees at QVC's Lancaster distribution center, all wearing
their t-shirts, hosted a 20th birthday celebration for QVC to raise money
for a variety of charities gained local news attention. The creation of an
animated QVC character that was broadcast on a viral Internet site picked
up thousands of hits. Special recognition was given to employee Peter Fey,
brother of Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey. Peter got the award for
taking QVC buzz to the next level by having Tina show off the Qforce shirt
on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
"This was a great opportunity to strategically market from the inside
out, giving our employees the ultimate permission to be creative," said
Jeff Charney, QVC's senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "The
breakthrough buzz for QVC created human impressions through traditional and
non-traditional media forms. Our employees definitely stepped up to the
plate and to me, these people are brand heroes."
Over 725 people across America globetrotted to become brand ambassadors
for QVC. The contest spanned 27 states, 3 continents and generated over 65
million impressions in a more effective, efficient manner than a
traditional marketing campaign. Qforce is the first initiative in a
three-pronged approach. Aimed at involving the people who are closest to
the QVC brand, two additional phases targeting its vendor population and
core customers, will be launched in the upcoming months.
QVC, Inc., a $7 billion company, is an e-commerce leader, marketing a
wide variety of brand name products in such categories as home furnishings,
licensed products, fashion, beauty, electronics and fine jewelry. QVC
reaches over 160 million homes worldwide. Other divisions/subsidiaries
include QVC.com, QVC @, QVC Local and QVC ProductWorks. The QVC Studio Tour
is located at the company's world headquarters in West Chester, Pa. QVC is
a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation.
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