I'm continuing to keep my eye on the growing number of YouTube contests that pop up each day, as I truly believe this will continue to grow given how easy and inexpensive they are to set-up.  Today’s case in point – Home Run Inn Pizza – who recently launched the Home Run Inn Horror Film Competition.  People are invited to create a 2 minute horror film that should scare the world, and incorporate Home Run Inn Pizza in the contest.  The top 5 winners receive free Home Run Inn frozen pizza for a year and the grand prize winners gets $2,500 cash, a big Halloween production for their house on the big night and hot pizza handed out to people who come for some trick-or-treat fun.

At first I have to admit I thought it was going to be a stretch to get people to incorporate pizza into a horror skit, but thankfully I was proven wrong after watching a few of the video entries.  This just goes to show that for a little cash and a unique concept people will come and play along.  It’s also important to note that a brand like Home Run Inn Pizza has an existing relationship with families that gives them the permission to take people on this journey.

A few things I’d do differently next year to help drive more awareness, views and participation:

• Elvira.  Yes, the mistress of the dark.  She may be a bit too non-family and is a bit old school but media still eat her up (no pun intended) around Halloween and she could help drive awareness through the media coverage that could have been gained with her part of the campaign.  Even adding her in to serve the pizza at the winning house could have been a solid addition.  And maybe I just thought of her to add her picture to this entry. :)
  
• Facebook.  The company has a Facebook page but doesn’t look like its utilized that much and doesn’t mention this campaign at all.
• Blockbuster.  Wonder if Blockbuster could have been approached to do some type of in-store promo about the campaign.  Perhaps they could offer secondary prizes of a full library of the scariest movies of all time and Home Run Inn Pizza could give away frozen pizza to the first 10 people (in costume) who come into the stores on Halloween night (nice sampling).
• Late night radio pizza delivery.  This may have been done, but think it would be worth feeding the radio guys/gals who are entertaining people at night could have been engaged with some food to raise awareness of the campaign. Directing the DJs to the site to have a laugh at the videos could also drive some nice on-air chatter.

So all of these ideas are obviously budget dependant and the team who put this idea together may have these ideas as well and/or may be testing the water this year and thinking big for next year.  Just adding some more food-for-thought (another zinger) for everyone to consider for your next big campaign.  Overall i love this campaign because its simple, fun and easy for people to enter - and of course some of the videos could go viral and spread the brand message even further.Well done!