Nest Elton Fest was a week-long giveaway from Candles off Main in 2012, built around the new Sir Elton John Woodside Garden candle from Nest Fragrances. The contest is over, but the rules show how the shop spread six raffles across its website, store and social pages.
Nest Fragrances recently launched the new Sir Elton John Woodside Garden candle – a blend of hyacinth, freesia, rose and jasmine. To celebrate, we’re giving away 6 Woodside Garden candles. Here’s how you can win:
Enter to win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our Website & Store Raffle:
- Earn 1 raffle entry for every Nest item purchased in store or on-line between 2/21/12 and 3/1/12.
- Earn 1 raffle entry for every Nest product review on our website between 2/21/12 and 3/1/12.
- Stop by the store by 3/1/12 let us know which Nest fragrance is your favorite for 1 raffle entry.
Enter to win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our Facebook Raffle:
- ‘Like’ our Facebook Page. Earn 1 raffle entry when you post what fragrance you would create for Sir Elton John on our Facebook wall.
- Earn 1 raffle entry when you get a friend to ‘Like’ our Facebook Page and post “[your name] sent me for Nest Elton Fest” on our wall. Your friend will also earn a raffle entry.
Enter to win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our Pinterest Raffle:
- Follow us on Pinterest. Earn 1 raffle entry when you pin any Nest Fragrances product to one of your pin boards by 3/1/12. Include “Candles Off Main” in the comment so we can see your pin.
Enter to Win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our Blog Raffle:
- If you could create a candle for any singer, who would you choose? What would the candle look like? What would it smell like? Follow our blog and post your answer as a comment on this blog post to earn 1 raffle entry.
Enter to Win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our YouTube Raffle:
- Subscribe to our YouTube channel and watch our Sir Elton John Woodside Garden video. Post your answer to the question in the video as a comment on the video in YouTube for 1 raffle entry.
Enter to Win a Sir Elton John Woodside Garden Candle in our Twitter Raffle:
- Follow us on Twitter. Earn 1 raffle entry when you tweet “CandlesOffMain.com is giving away 6 Sir Elton John Woodside Garden candles. See how you can #win at http://bit.ly/NestEltonFest”.
We’ll select a random winners from each of the raffles on Friday, March 2, 2012. We’ll announce the winners on this blog post and on Facebook and Twitter. We’ll ship the winning candles to any continental US address. Good luck!
How Nest Elton Fest worked
The shop gave away 6 Woodside Garden candles, one through each raffle: website and store, Facebook, Pinterest, blog, YouTube and Twitter. Most entries ran between February 21 and March 1, 2012.
Every raffle had its own simple task. You could buy or review a Nest item, post which fragrance you would create for Sir Elton John, pin a Nest product, answer a question on the blog, comment on the video or tweet the giveaway text.
Winners were drawn at random on Friday, March 2, 2012, announced on the blog, Facebook and Twitter, and shipped to any continental US address. Nest Elton Fest was a clear example of a contest that used each channel for what it does best.
In short, Nest Elton Fest gave every kind of fan a way in: shoppers, social media users, bloggers and video watchers.
About the Woodside Garden candle
The candle is described as a blend of hyacinth, freesia, rose and jasmine. That puts it firmly in the floral family, so it suits people who like a garden bouquet scent.
The Nest Elton Fest promotion celebrated its launch, which is why the shop gave away six of them. If you want to know more about the artist whose name is on the candle, the Elton John Wikipedia page has the background.
For help with the brand’s wider range, our guide to the best NEST candle scents is a good place to start. It explains how to choose between Nest scents by mood and season.
What Nest Elton Fest teaches about entering contests
The first lesson from Nest Elton Fest is to read each rule carefully. One raffle needed a Facebook post, another a pin with a specific phrase in the comment, and another an exact tweet. Missing a detail could cost you the entry.
The second lesson is to pick the channels you actually use. If you do not use Pinterest, skip that raffle and put your effort where you are comfortable.
Third, keep track of the dates. Nest Elton Fest entries closed on March 1, and the draw was the next day.
Fourth, think about the prize. A floral candle is a great win if you like hyacinth and jasmine, but it is worth checking the notes first.
The question behind Nest Elton Fest
My favorite part is the blog question: if you could create a candle for any singer, who would you choose, and what would it look like and smell like? It is a fun prompt for anyone who loves scent.
Try answering it yourself. Think about the singer’s sound, the stage, the color palette, then choose notes that match, such as woods for a gravelly voice or white florals for a soft one.
That kind of exercise is how many people learn to describe fragrance. It is the same skill you use when you read a candle review.
Where to go next
If you like contests from the same era, read about the Nest Spring Fest candle giveaway, which used a similar idea. It shows how the shop built a rhythm of seasonal events around Nest.
The details of Nest Elton Fest may be history, but the way it was run still works as a template for small shops and blog readers alike.
Looking back, Nest Elton Fest is a useful example of how a shop can use one product launch to keep a community busy for ten days.
Header photo: m01229 from USA, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
