Mint.com, an online financial services tool, has debuted its first marketing campaign with a user-generated video and story sweepstakes, in a move to get the word out about its brand.
The campaign, which is a collaboration with interactive agency Red Bricks Media, calls consumers to make videos or write stories about the overspending habits during the holidays and post them on Mint.com for the chance to win $5,000. The promotion will run through March 15.
“We decided to begin the promotion a month after Christmas, when all of us have gotten our nasty holiday bills,” said Donna Wells, CMO at Mint.com. “We are trying to help people keep their New Year’s resolutions when it comes to saving money and this is a fun way to engage them in that process.”
Mint.com launched last fall and has 140,000 users, mostly in their mid 20s to early 30s. The firm’s mission is to help people better manage their spending. The service is free, but Mint.com makes a commission from some credit card referrals.
According to Wells, most of its users who were surveyed about holiday spending, spent more than they had planned on this past season. The campaign calls consumers to “purge your shopping demons” with stories about their holiday shopping excesses.
“We wanted to come up with a way to engage young people,” said Theresa Lee, creative director at Red Bricks Media.
Mint promotions in the future may highlight its wedding and college features.