Now that mortgage lenders have essentially been relegated to selling less risky, ‘plain vanilla’ loans, thanks to a slew of new regulations and stricter investor guidelines, survival has essentially become a function of market share. Today, only those lenders that are savvy marketers will gain the attention of millennials and just about anyone else who is in the market for a home loan.
In an impressive branding exercise, Fort Washington, Pa.-based lender Ditech Mortgage Corp. has teamed up with Stewart-Haas Racing and Kevin Harvick's No. 4 Chevrolet team to promote the company's new ‘Home Sweet Loan’ photo contest and sweepstakes. The separate contests were launched to coincide with the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup series in Charlotte, N.C.
For the photo contest, race fans are asked to print out one of the available pictures of Kevin Harvick on www.ditechracing.com, take a photo with ‘Kevin’ at their home that depicts their home as a ‘dream home,’ and enter for a chance to win one of five contest prizes of a ‘mortgage for a month,’ i.e., a check for $2,500.
For the sweepstakes, consumers have three methods of entry: They can enter at www.ditechracing.com; they can tweet to @ditech about why their home is their dream home; and they can also write and submit a post on the company's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ditech) with the same content. For the Twitter and Facebook methods, entrants are to use the hashtag #HomeSweetLoanSweeps.
Upon registering for the sweepstakes, consumers can submit additional entries – one per day – throughout the duration of the promotion. One sweepstakes grand prize winner will receive a ‘Mortgage for a Year’ payment prize, awarded as a check for $30,000, and an additional 20 first prize winners will win a hat autographed by Kevin Harvick.
Consumers need not have a mortgage or own a home in order to participate. Both photo contest and sweepstakes winners may spend their winnings however they like; they are not required to be utilized toward the payment of a mortgage.
‘Following the terrific response we received after announcing our partnership with Kevin Harvick and unveiling the No. 4 Ditech Chevrolet, we are excited to offer another way for consumers to familiarize themselves with the Ditech brand and Stewart-Haas Racing,’ says Rich Smith, chief marketing officer at Ditech, in a release.
Photo contest entries will be judged on three factors: creativity and originality; demonstration of how the entrant's home is his or her dream home; and the overall appeal of the entry.
Sweepstakes winners will be chosen at random.
The promotion, which began on Oct. 10, will end on Nov. 16.
For more information, click here.