Win a Cybertruck or $100K? The Unbelievable Ridge Wallet Giveaway

It isn’t every day you see a giveaway that is as ambitious and outright bold as the Ridge Wallet giveaway. A massive grand prize and excellent weekly prizes over the giveaway’s 6-week duration.

The grand prize winner gets to choose their prize. They can drive off in a gold-plated Cybertruck or a Hennessey Velociraptor. If pickup trucks are not their thing, then $100,000 in cash. Oh, and don’t forget 6 weekly prize bundles and vouchers.

The Ridge Wallet giveaway certainly caught our attention, so we felt compelled to analyze it and build a proper case study for you. 

In this Ridge Wallet giveaway case study, we learn how Ridge designed their giveaway to engage customers and produce massive results like expanded email and SMS lists and a boost in website traffic and sales. 

As with all of our case studies, we hope that our findings help inspire and guide you toward creating your own successful giveaway.

First, what is the Ridge Wallet giveaway?

The Ridge Wallet Giveaway

So, what is The Ridge Wallet Giveaway? Let’s take a closer look:

• Entry Method: Submit an e-mail to enter on the Ridge Giveaway landing page
• Prizes: A Gold-plated Cybertruck or a $140,000 Hennessey Velociraptor (or $100,000 cash). Weekly prizes range from Ridge products to store credit.
• Duration: 6 weeks

The Ridge Wallet Giveaway concept is simple: Visit Ridge online, submit your e-mail address, and you’ll be entered!

The winner of this giveaway can choose their prize. And man, is it a hard choice! If you win this giveaway, you must choose between a Gold-plated Cybertruck or a $140,000 Hennessey Velociraptor. 

If you find it hard to make a choice, don’t worry. You can always go with the $100k cash prize, a versatile and valuable alternative. 

Ridge has done something fantastic with the prize for this giveaway. We will discuss this and more later in this case study. But first, let’s look at why Ridge hosted this giveaway.

Why Host a Giveaway?

Ridge, a manufacturer of wallets and luggage, has established itself as a leader in the minimalist wallet market. This is not just because of Ridge’s sleek designs and functionality but also because of its strategic marketing approach. Ridge’s marketing strategies are a key factor in their success, inspiring others in the industry. 

We can write an entire post on how Ridge markets themselves and their recent collab with MKBHD. But today, we focus on The Ridge Wallet Giveaway, a campaign created purely to:

• Engage their audience
• Drive sales
• Create brand awareness
• Build an email list and generate leads

Ridge has created not just a giveaway but a strategic campaign that is engaging and goal-oriented. This approach is something we can all learn from and be inspired by.

This case study explores key elements of the Ridge Wallet giveaway. Elements include:

• Giveaway rules
• Entry methods
• The Prize
• Promotional video
• Profitability and strategic outcome
• Building email and text lists

We analyzed and critiqued these elements to determine the pros and cons of hosting such a high-profile giveaway. We hope our findings help you create a successful giveaway. 

Up Next: Ridge Wallet giveaway prizes.

Prizes That Capture Attention

The prize is the most crucial element of any giveaway. It is probably the single most important reason for people to take part in your giveaway. 

And boy, the prize for this Ridge giveaway is not just insane; it’s mind-blowing! The value of the prize is so massive and ridiculous that we decided to review it and create a case study.

The grand prize winner can walk away with either a gold-plated Tesla Cybertruck or a Hennessey Velociraptor. No, you can’t have both; you will have to choose one. This strategy is fantastic because Ridge is using two massive prizes to promote a giveaway where you can only win one of those prizes.

If you include the $100k cash option, there are three prizes. Ridge, knowing how crucial the prize is in a giveaway, uses three prizes with a total value of almost $400k to promote the campaign. You see all three prizes in the giveaway video, on social media, and on their site. 

But the winner will only walk away with one prize! This is a brilliant strategy to make a giveaway seem larger than it is: two massive physical prizes and a bag full of cash. Well done, Ridge!

Fancy Pickup Truck Prize

The Tesla Cybertruck and Hennessey Velociraptor are premium off-road vehicles that appeal to an audience that values a rugged lifestyle.

Ridge is a brand known for manufacturing rugged products that appeal to people who live outdoor, rugged lifestyles. So, offering pickup trucks as a prize for the giveaway is an excellent way to entice their target audience to enter.

If a woman or a tech-savvy person wins, they could choose the equally rugged yet modern Tesla cyber truck as their prize. This prize will attract a massive tech-focused audience, mainly because it is a gold-plated Cybertruck.

You can choose the traditional Hennessy Velociraptor if you prefer a petrol motor. This prize is equally impressive as it is one of the best Ford pickup trucks.

If you don’t like any of these options, you can go with the cash. It’s excellent that Ridge allows giveaway entrants to choose a prize. Most people find it enticing to choose a prize that best reflects their personality.

The diverse prize options in this giveaway cater to a wide range of preferences, making it an attractive opportunity for a broad yet targeted audience.

We are not fans of using cash as a giveaway prize, as anyone and everyone will want to participate in a cash giveaway. Your giveaway should only appeal to your target audience. You want high-quality leads from your giveaway, and a cash giveaway will attract many low-quality leads.

The option for a cash prize (at a lower value than the vehicles) in this giveaway makes it enticing and outstanding. Attaching the phrase “one hundred thousand dollars cash” to the giveaway will make the campaign even more effective. 

Weekly Prizes and Bundles

The estimated value of the Hennessy Velociraptor is $140k. Ridge also gave away weekly prizes worth $27,250. This makes the total giveaway prize value a whopping $167,250!

The giveaway ran for six weeks. Ridge Made an excellent decision to give away weekly prizes. These weekly prizes included store credit, product bundles, Ridge wallets, and more. 

These smaller, weekly giveaways were an excellent way to keep Ridge’s audience engaged during the six-week campaign. Announcing winners weekly allows for more content, engagement, and entries. This is an ideal strategy for such a massive giveaway. 

Here is a screenshot of the weekly prize giveaways and their values:

Here are some key takeaways regarding the weekly prizes above:

Store Credit

We strongly encourage brands to host gift card giveaways. When users enter a gift card giveaway, they immediately scan the site where the gift card prize is redeemable. This opens up the potential for more traffic and brand exposure. 

The cost of giving away store credit is lower than purchasing a specific product. For example, you could give away a $200 gift card to use at your store. However, the actual cost to your company may only be $150 (even less in some cases). 

This makes gift card giveaways a cost-friendly endeavor. Such an efficient campaign can actually be run monthly (evergreen contest funnel), which is ideal for brands looking to grow their audience consistently.

Wallet and Band Weekly Giveaways

Ridge gave away a wallet and a wedding band in weeks 4 and 5 of the giveaway. These relatively small prizes are still enticing for fans. These inexpensive prizes are ideal for weekly giveaways within a massive giveaway to keep customer engagement up. 

Hosting a giveaway where the wallet is the main prize isn’t a good idea. A more substantial prize would help attract a better audience. However, giving away a wallet weekly or once a month can help generate a small audience consistently and regularly, which is key to maintaining customer engagement.

Prize Bundles

A small price like a Wallet may need to be more enticing for most people. For this reason, we recommend brands create a prize bundle made up of smaller prizes. Ridge did this by giving away three prize bundles during the 6 weeks of this giveaway.

Ridge gave away two Ultimate Gear Bundles valued at $4000. These bundles included products from the Ridge catalog. The

Frequent Flyer Kits is a prize bundle made up of Ridge travel products that include luggage. 

Up Next: Ridge Wallet giveaway promotional video.

The Ridge Wallet Giveaway Video

Ridge produced an impressive video to match their equally impressive giveaway. The video shows the prizes in action and carefully explains the entry methods and some of the giveaway rules.

We really love that this video has some humor. The format of the video is also excellent. The “finance guy” explains the giveaway and its rules to the “creative director.” This format allows Ridge to create a somewhat satirical and humorous video that perfectly displays the prizes while providing more information for users interested in entering. 

Click here to watch the giveaway video on YouTube. 

Key Takeaways from Ridge Wallet Giveaway Video

• A cinematic stylized video that looks amazing and professional.
• The giveaway, the prize, the entry method, and more are discussed in the video.
• The three options for the grand prize are all on display. The two vehicles are shown driving in the sand to prove their off-road capabilities.
• There is some humor and self-awareness in the middle of the video. This helps to keep the video engaging, as some viewers may feel bored at this point.
• The video also includes the company’s diverse product line. Ridge’s wallets, luggage, rings, etc., are briefly shown in the video, ensuring the audience is well-informed about the brand’s wide range of products.
• There is more humor at the end of the video as well as gratuitous 4×4 sand drifting. This is a cool way to wrap up the video.

Up Next: Ridge Wallet giveaway rules and entry methods.

Giveaway Rules and Entry Methods

A crucial element of any successful giveaway is its rules. We have analyzed many high-profile giveaways in the past and have noticed that big brands spend a lot of time drafting their giveaway rules. 

Ridge is no exception. For this campaign, they have a dedicated page for the giveaway rules. Ridge ensured that every aspect of this giveaway and its rules were documented on the Ridge Wallet giveaway rules page. 

The Rules To Keep You Safe

The rules for this campaign are so extensive that they’re impressive. At almost 6,000 words, Ridge more than covers the legality of this giveaway. 

NB: This section is crucial in understanding the effort to create a good set of rules. We briefly explain each section of the Ridge Wallet giveaway rules so you can understand the importance of including giveaway rules in your next campaign. 

Here is a list of the topics they cover in the Ridge Wallet giveaway rules:

1. Eligibility: Who can enter the giveaway? E.g., Legal US residents only.
2. Promotion period: The duration of the giveaway. From 1 August to 15 September. 
3. Five ways to enter the giveaway: This is the giveaway entry method, which we will discuss in more detail later in this post.
4. Random drawing: The official process used to draw a winner. There will be six weekly winners and one grand prize winner.
5. Winner notification and scam alert: This section details how winners will be contacted and what they will need to do to receive their prize. It also includes a scam awareness message.
6. Prizes and their retail value: There are six weekly prizes and one grand prize. This section covers the value of these prizes.
7. Limitation of liability and release: Important legal terms covering specific issues. For example, Ridge cannot be held liable for failure to deliver the prize on time due to an act of god, war, pandemic, government ruling, etc. 
8. Publicity release: This section states that winners must disclose their identities. Ridge’s purpose is to further promote its brand by sharing images of the winners and their prizes. 
9. Damage to website – Damaging the Ridge website or seriously undermining the brand and giveaway is considered a criminal offense. 
10. Privacy – Ridge will own any personal information collected during the giveaway.
11. Choice of law/jurisdiction – The rules of this giveaway pertains to all 48 states. However the law and jurisdiction of choice is the state of California.
12. Servability – If specific rules cannot be enforced, then it will be invalid.
13. Winners list—This is the date and place where the official winners list and official rules will be found.

Click Here to learn more about the Laws Around Giveaways and Contests.

Key Takeaways From the Ridge Wallet Giveaway Rules Page

As mentioned earlier, we are rather impressed with the rules for this giveaway. We have tried our best to summarize all the sections included in the giveaway rules. However, there were a few other aspects of these rules that caught our eye.

Here are a few key takeaways from the Ridge Wallet giveaway rules: 

• The giveaway spans a clear 6-week period, with weekly prizes up for grabs. The specific dates for the weekly prize draws are also provided, allowing you to plan your participation accordingly. The rules comprehensively overview the winner selection process, including external companies’ dates, methods, and involvement. This section is crucial as it assures users of the giveaway’s fairness and everyone’s equal chance to win. Scammers frequently send emails to people, informing them that they have won a prize. The recipient must forward their personal information to the scammer to claim their prize. Ridge issues this friendly warning in the hopes that their fans will be aware of such scammers. 
• Brands love to show off their giveaway winners. This makes for a great photo of opportunity and adds to the legitimacy of the campaign. Ridge states that their winners cannot be anonymous as they must make themselves available for future photo opportunities and marketing.
• Servability is a crucial factor in your giveaway rules. If rules are illegal or invalid by law, these rules cannot be legally enforced. Ridge mentions this goodwill towards its entrants.

How To Enter the Ridge Wallet Giveaway

The entry method is critical from a legal point of view, especially since Ridge labels the campaign as a giveaway and sweepstake. 

You cannot charge customers to enter a giveaway or make it mandatory for entrants to purchase your product to enter. In the United States, this is considered gambling or an illegal lottery.

That being said, Ridge has found a way to entice entrants to make purchases by participating in the giveaway, all while staying on the right side of the law. They achieved this legally by using multiple-entry methods.

Let’s take a closer look at the entry methods for this giveaway:

1. Online Purchase: Purchasing on the Ridge site automatically enters you into the giveaway. Entrants gain additional entries for every dollar spent.
2. Sign Up For Email Newsletter: This means no purchase is required to enter the giveaway. Simply submit your email to enter.
3. Sign Up for Text Messages: This is another method where no purchase is required to be entered. This is excellent for Brian’s looking to build a text message list. Text message marketing is still highly reliable and relevant today.
4. Mail-in Entry Method: This is old-fashioned. However, it is nice to have the option for users to complete their entry on physical paper and mail it back to Ridge. No purchase is required here, either.

To summarise, users can visit the Ridge giveaway landing page and submit their email to enter at no cost. If they want more entries, they could potentially sign up for text messaging and even purchase some products to gain bonus entries.

The option to purchase products for bonus entry will help increase revenue during the giveaway. This entry method is illegal if you do not allow users to enter for free.

Up Next: A look into the profitability of hosting such a massive giveaway.

Profitability and Strategic Outcomes

Profitability is a key decision-making role in any marketing campaign. Yes, there are campaigns aimed simply to create brand awareness and are not profitable. However, giveaways built to achieve specific marketing goals can certainly turn into a profitable endeavor. Especially if you plan to invest a large sum of money into your campaign.

For this campaign, Ridge invested $167,250 towards its prizes. We discussed the amazing production quality after the giveaway video. That particular video would have been expensive to produce. Social media marketing and marketing on other channels would also have been costs. 

So, how will Ridge make up the money they spent on this giveaway? It is probably over $200,000.

Here are a few ways Ridge will earn their money back:

Direct Sales from Entries

Users can earn entries when buying Ridge products. Some products will earn a user multiple entries and bonus entries. These instant sales during the campaign can offset some of the costs incurred during that period. 

Brand Exposure

Brand exposure is crucial for online businesses. Users who discover a new product or website for the first time will potentially purchase something from that site later. The challenging part is getting new users to visit your site. A campaign like this can certainly drive new users and traffic to the Ridge site.

Over time, leads and traffic acquired during this campaign may convert into new customers. Even those users that entered for free without making any purchases. 

Building an Email and Text List

Email and text are exceptional channels for communicating with leads and customers. A massive list of email and phone numbers can be lucrative for any brand. 

Here’s why:

An email or phone number list made up of a target audience will have high open rates. Especially if the brand appeals directly to that audience. 

These lists can be used for future marketing campaigns like product launches, sales, and other promotions. 

Mobile shopping is huge and ever-growing. Text messages can help boost mobile sales. 

Is the Giveaway Worth It?

This particular giveaway has very high expenses attached to it. So, its profitability may not be instant or short term, but rather long term (over 6 months). 

The campaign ran during September. The leads acquired during this period play a major role in Ridge’s 4th Quarter marketing, which is their most crucial time of the year. That is, Black Friday, Christmas, New Year’s, and more. Having more leads during this time will certainly be beneficial. 

If Ridge acquired 100,000 leads from this campaign and only 1% made purchases, that would mean 1,000 sales. If the average amount per sale is $100, then total sales from 1,000 customers will be $100k. 

We have seen smaller giveaways build 100,000 large email lists. This campaign can reach 500k leads. If 1% of these (5k leads) make purchases averaging $100, we could see sales totaling $500k or more!

Spending more money on a giveaway is risky and makes earning that money (and more) back challenging. However, this giveaway is well planned and executed, lowering the risk of failure and monetary loss. 

TL;DR: Ridge Wallet Giveaway Case Study

• Giveaway Overview: A massive giveaway that includes high-value grand and weekly prizes. The grand winner can choose their prize (pickup trucks or cash).
• Duration: The giveaway ran for six weeks. Ridge gave away a new weekly prize (store credit, product bundles, etc.).
• Entry Methods: Users could enter via email or SMS sign-up. Bonus entries were awarded to those who made purchases on the Ridge site.
• Goals:
  • Build an email/SMS list before Q4.
  • Create brand awareness while engaging customers.
  • Drive traffic and sales online.
• Prize Strategy: The grand prize and the weekly prices appeal to an audience interested in living an outdoor and rugged lifestyle (pickup truck, rugged wallet, knives, etc.).
• Video Promotion: A high-quality, professional, quirky, and cinematic video that is short and informative while also engaging viewers.
• Profitability: Online sales boost from users making purchases for bonus entries. Long-term profit via email and text marketing during high sales season (Black Friday, Christmas, and New Year’s Day).
• Key Takeaways: A well-planned giveaway can create plenty of opportunities like engagement, traffic, leads, and more.
• Image Credit: All images are sourced from Ridge