Sebastian the SalesVote Squirrel is cracking open some good nuts, or deals, in D.C. with the new social networking company SalesVote.
SalesVote is similar to LivingSocial and Groupon because it offers discounted deals. However, it mainly uses social network websites such as Facebook and Twitter to tell people about deals, and it updates weekly rather than daily. The site gives users the opportunity to win money by sharing the deals through Facebook and Twitter.
SalesVote CEO Zak Kidd said SalesVote targets people living in D.C., especially those who are active on social networking sites. Kidd said the company reached out to colleges like AU and George Washington University through fliers and outreach to sororities and fraternities. SalesVote also takes interns from local colleges.
“On the merchant side it’s different because we are locally owned and operated, that helps; we’re small, that helps,” Kidd said. “We also create a lot of media for our merchants that other competitors do not.”
The company recently launched the game “Last to Share” in November. In this game, the last customer to share one of SalesVote’s weekly deals by Facebook or Twitter every day wins a cash prize depending on the number of shares, according to Kidd.
As more customers share the deal, the cash prize accumulates more money and time. After each new share, 20 seconds are added to the timer.
The customers who choose to purchase the deal instead of sharing it are not able to win money.
Kidd said he launched SalesVote in May 2011 and chose a squirrel for the company’s mascot due to the animal’s versatility.
“We like the squirrel because we kind of feel like if you are in any city you do run into squirrels and they are always trying to find nuts or acorns or food, you know, kind of like a deal, so we felt that there’s a nice similarity there,” Kidd said.
School of Communication sophomore Rebecca Fuger began interning at SalesVote this semester to help promote the company.
“I also enjoy … being the mediator between a business and the press,” she said.
Groupon Director of Communications Julie Mossler said Groupon did not wish to comment on SalesVote. LivingSocial did not respond to an email asking for comment.
“We never comment on other companies,” Mossler said. “Washington, D.C. is one of Groupon’s strongest markets with a very loyal merchant and customer following, and we truly enjoy supporting the local economy.”
Kidd said SalesVote is currently in the process of patenting its “Last to Share” deal and may expand to other locales. However, SalesVote remains restricted to the D.C. area for now.
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