Auto insurance company Esurance launches the “SXSW Dream Gig” contest. Its looking for a socially savvy storyteller who is “inspired by technology, tapped into music and moved by film,” and who wants to be the Esurance correspondent at this year’s South by Southwest Conference and Festivals (SXSW), March 8-17, 2013.

Esurance is hosting the contest on Facebook where entrants have to “like” the Esurance Facebook page and then enter via the SXSW Dream Gig Facebook contest page. The first phase of the contest runs through January 25, 2013, at which point the judges will then select three finalists by February 1st. The finalists will each have to create a video demonstrating why they’re “the perfect SXSW correspondent,” according to the contest overview and official rules. The next phase of the contest is the public voting phase where Facebook users will vote for their favorite finalist. The public voting phase runs from February 15th through the 22nd.

The winner will receive a Platinum badge to SXSW; roundtrip air travel to Austin, TX; a 10-night hotel stay at the Hilton Austin; an iPad; a $2,000 stipend and will be the official SXSW correspondent for Esurance.

SXSW is a fun-filled conference with non-stop action. It really is a tech, music and film lover’s dream to have an opportunity to see the latest indie films, bands and social apps; and interview the hottest actors, up and coming indie bands and singer-songwriters, and social media entrepreneurs and celebs. If you’re socially savvy and good on camera and love tech, music and film, then this is truly your “Dream Gig.” 

It’ll be interesting to see the results from this campaign from how many entrants and votes the contest gets to how many video views and social media buzz and mentions Esurance gets during this year’s SXSW.

Gold Peak Tea, a Coca-Cola brand, has launched a new campaign on Facebook entitled “Take The Year Off” where it offers fans a chance to win $100,000 to pursue their dream. That dream could be to simply take a year off and relax or it could be to start a new business venture or pursue a creative endeavor such as making a film, writing a book or making an album and getting it sold on iTunes or Amazon. Whatever the dream, people have until July 13th at 11:59pm EDT to enter.

The mechanics of the “Take The Year Off” Facebook campaign require entrants to “like” the page, complete the registration form, which includes providing a valid email. After that each entrant has to then answer two short questions (140 characters each), write a brief essay (1,500 characters) explaining what they would do if they were given the opportunity to take a year off with a $100,000 salary, and submit a recent and “recognizable photo” of themselves. The brand will select the top entries.

The top candidates selected become the semi-finalists and move into the next phase of the campaign. Each semi-finalist will be required to submit a 30-60 second video that fits the campaign’s theme of “Enjoying the Comforts of Home.” The videos are then judged on the following criteria: 1) Compelling Quality of Submission (33%); 2) Creativity/Originality of Submission (33%); and 3) Fit to Promotion Theme of Enjoying the Comforts of Home (34%). Based on that criteria the brand picks the top finalists.

The last phase of the campaign is public voting, where the public gets to vote on their favorite video and finalist submission. The finalist with the most valid votes will become the grand prize winner and will get to take the year off with a salary of $100,000. In addition, the campaign also includes a sweepstakes for the fans who vote. The sweepstakes prize is four tickets to a Live Nation concert, which includes roundtrip air travel for four and three nights’ hotel accommodations. The voting and sweepstakes phase of the campaign runs from August 6-24, 2012. 

The campaign platform/provider is ePrize, a leader in interactive promotions and loyalty programs.

In general, video contests tend to garnish the lowest amount of entries compared to other contests and sweepstakes where there’s a lower point of entry, such as entering a name and email only. However, given the attractiveness of the prize and the fact that the video portion is only one component of many, I suspect that Gold Peak Tea’s “Take The Year Off” campaign will do quite well. They were smart to add the sweepstakes component, which will increase the total number of votes and overall participation in the campaign.

What would you do if you could take a year off with a salary of $100,000?

Sheets Brand, makers of edible energy strips packed with B vitamins and caffeine, launched a new video contest on its Facebook brand Page calling for video submissions from its fans. The brand also has brought on NBA star LeBron James as a judge for the contest. The winning video will be featured on national television and in movie theaters.

For more on the video contest, read AllFacebook.com’s LeBron James Will Judge Facebook Ad Competition

On Friday, American Airlines (AA) announced its MEGA VIP Video Blogger contest on its AAdvantage Facebook brand page calling for video bloggers to submit a 30-60 second video that includes three items delivered in a creative manner. The three criteria are: 1) why the blogger should be selected as AA’s official video blogger for the MegaDo trip, which is a four-day trip that starts in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas (DFW airport), stops in Seattle for a visit to Boeing, and ends in Los Angeles, CA (LAX airport) with a stay at Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in LA; 2) which leg of the trip is most exciting to the blogger; and the third criterion is for the blogger to share a little bit about who they are.

The contest is designed to drive new Facebook fans and AAdvantage memberships since people have to like the Facebook brand page to participate, and on the contest landing tab/page there’s an offer for non-AAdvantage members to sign up and receive 500 bonus miles for signing up using the offer code OWMGD. In addition to the grand prize, the top five entries will receive 25,000 miles on their AAdvantage membership. 

In general, video contests tend to get the lowest amount of entries among contests and sweepstakes because of the higher barrier of entry due to the skill and time that’s involved to produce a video. Sweepstakes that are promoted on Facebook brand pages where one only has to “Like” the page and provide their name and email seem to get the highest level entries. 

However, for those fans who do enter video contests run by brands, they have a greater chance of winning given there’s less competition. So for eager fans it’s a great way to win a prize; and for brands it’s a great way for them to get fans to submit user generated content that hopefully delivers information about the brand in a fun and entertaining manner that compels viewers to share it with their friends, and therefore, those videos have the opportunity to go viral and extend the reach of the contest and campaign’s message.

If you decide to conduct a video contest for your brand and don’t see a large volume of entries, do not consider it unsuccessful because historically most brands do not experience a high number of entries like they do with sweepstakes that require very little on the entrant’s part. Video contests are more challenging, but they’re an excellent way to acquire creative user generated content with viral potential and new fan/customer acquisition.

Last year Fidelity Investments conducted their “Be The Green Line” video contests on YouTube where entrants had to submit a video that creatively demonstrated being the “green line” and delivered Fidelity’s message to stay on the green line, meaning to save and invest wisely. The video contest was tied into Fidelity’s “Turn Here” advertising campaign that also incorporated the green line, which represents, according to its video contest launch press release, ”the firm’s ability to help investors navigate all stages of life with financial guidance and appropriate investment options.”

The winning video was very well done and as of this writing has received 3,007 views (watch below). Click here to learn more about AA’s MEGA VIP Video Blogger video contest.