Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the ugliest bathroom of all? Well, 90 homeowners thought they did, but there was only one winner in the contest run by J+J Custom Kitchens and Baths. The Greensboro, N.C., remodeling company ran advertisements for the contest on a local radio station as a fun way to bring attention to their services. "It was good to create leads and brand our name throughout the airwaves," vice president Bill Muckridge says.
The company started running ads on the radio two years ago, but their sales representative at the radio station, Angie Williams, thought a contest would be more interesting.
Muckridge and president Jon White turned to their suppliers to help pay for the ads and the renovation of the winning entry. Moen, Wood-Mode, and Dupont Corian offered co-op pricing on the materials used on the project and helped pay for the segments. The radio station, 98.7 The Zone, also contributed. The ads ran twice an hour from January 1 to February 15, 2003, and mentioned all the sponsors.
The contest required homeowners to fill out a form and send in pictures of their bathroom. The remodel covered a bathroom under 120 square feet and included up to $10,000 in materials and labor. The homeowner had to pay anything above the cap. The judges were the owners of J+J, local vendors, and representatives from the manufacturers and the radio station.
"It really took our name and branded it around Greensboro. People recognized us," Muckridge says. When Muckridge and White decide to run the contest again, they may ask entrants to drop off business cards at the company's showroom to lure them in and show off their offerings.
