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"I've never won anything before in my life!"

Sound familiar? It should... it's the 6th and final stage in the Classic Win Reactionary Sequence, better known in the industry as the CWRS. Chances are pretty good you've heard someone say it after they've won something. The sequence typically goes something like this:

Step 1, Shock: "Oh my Gosh!"
Step 2, Disbelief: "No way..."
Step 3, Skepticism: "You're joking, right?"
Step 4, Excitement: "You're not joking! I can't believe it, holy (insert favorite expletive here)!"
Step 5, Joy: "WOOOOOHOOOOO!"
Step 6, Acceptance: "I've never won anything before in my life!"

Let's face it, we've all daydreamed about what we'd do if our winning lottery numbers came scrolling across the TV screen, although few will ever know what that feeling is really like. But for a few lucky people here at MRI, those feelings are shared on a daily basis.

Christine G., MRI Fulfillment Manager, loves to tell the story of Robert, the veteran policeman from Pennsylvania. Having just received his paperwork and phone message informing him of his grand prize win in a sweepstakes, Robert called MRI back to confirm.  "When we told him that he had in fact won the grand prize, I thought he would break my eardrums with all of his screaming," Christine said. "The best part was when he started screaming 'I told you mom, I told you it was true, I told you I won!"  His prize?  A 50 year Disney Vacation Club membership worth approximately $80,000. Who knew big bad Rob was such a fan of Tinkerbell and Dumbo. "I'm going to Disneyworld!"

Some of the best reactions come from people who find out they've won, only to realize that they have no idea what they're going to do with the prize.

Trina from New Mexico was quite shocked to learn she had won a rather pricey necklace. "Where in the world am I going to wear a necklace worth $30,000?" she asked. Christine told her that if she had won the necklace, she wouldn't let any circumstance stop her from wearing it. "Vacuuming the house, doing the dishes, shopping for groceries... I'd wear it everywhere!" Here's hoping Trina took her advice.

Other people have completely unexpected reactions to winning. Take the strange case of Betty from Alabama. MRI called Betty to let her know she had just won 1 of 16 weekly drawings in the Ford Super Duty contest. Her prize was concert tickets, a hotel room, transportation to/from the venue, and entrance into the grand prize sweepstakes where she would have a 1 in 30 chance of winning a Ford Super Duty.  When informed of her big win, Betty was genuinely shocked because she hadn't entered any sweepstakes and didn't know who may have entered on her behalf.  "I don't enter these types of things and I thought it was a scam, to be honest," she said. No less than two weeks later, Betty's name was drawn as a semi-finalist winner again for the same contest. Since Betty had already opted out of the sweepstakes, MRI pulled an alternate winner. Someone in Betty's circle of family and friends is going to be sorely disappointed when she gets around to telling them that story, since they were undoubtedly entering for her.

What would you do with a lifetime supply of smoothies? One family from Georgia will likely never know the answer to that after they turned down 50 $300 gift cards to a large smoothie retailer. Citing the cost of the taxes as the reason they couldn't take the prize, the retailer offered to pay it for them. After some consideration, the family still refused the lifetime of frozen deliciousness, saying the nearest store was "too far" for them to travel.

But the majority of winners' reactions stay true to the CWRS. And there are many winners who are truly grateful for the gifts they've received.  Like Al, the winner of a 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser. It wasn't until he was presented with the keys and had his picture taken with the car that he revealed he had been sharing his car with many other members of his family. That's one person whose commute just got a lot easier.  Or Bernice, the 80 year old lady who coincidentally won $80,000... and decided to give it away to charity. She decided that she would never be able to spend that much money given her age, and that it would be better served giving it to someone in need.

All of these stories are a testament to the power of promotion. Regardless of the tactic, promotions reach people from all segments of society and are a powerful marketing tool. If you have an idea for a promotion, we'd love to help you make it happen. Contact MRI today to find out more!