Farragut Treasure Hunt
Hoping to create ‘clues’ buzz for customers, Town business
Inaugural Farragut Treasure Hunt is a creative and fun way for customers to further “discover” Town of Farragut businesses, leading toward a bevy of prizes for three lucky customers — and one prize for scores of other customers.
With most of the credit for the Treasure Hunt concept going to Wendy Smith, Town Public Relations and Marketing coordinator, and Lauren Cox, Special Event and Program coordinator with Town government’s Parks & Leisure Services department, the Hunt begins July 31.
“Businesses have really stepped up with some great prizes,” Smith said. “I think when people will see the prizes then they’re going to be motivated to go for it.”
Participants simply go to facebook.com and search “Town of Farragut,” then find a menu on the left side of the page for “Events,” then click and search for “Farragut Treasure Hunt.”
“At 10 a.m., Monday, July 31, three clues for a local business will be posted on the Events page. Clues for three other businesses will be posted at 10 a.m. on the following three days for a total of four treasure-hunting opportunities,” a Town press release stated.
For people to participate after unraveling the clues, they must indicate on the Facebook page they are “Going” to that business so their photos, which must be taken inside the business upon visiting as evidence of discovering each business, can be posted and will show up on the Facebook page.
Whomever unravels the clues, indicates “going,” visits all four businesses and takes and posts all four pictures will be entered into a chance — a drawing to be held Monday, Aug. 7. — to win one of three packages of prizes to be announced on the Town’s Facebook page Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Grand Prize is one pair of ¼-carat diamond earrings and $50 gift card from Rick Terry Jewelry Designs; a $120 gift basket with wine, seasonings and steak knives from LongHorn Steakhouse of Farragut; four admissions and skate rentals from Cool Sports; a Year of Pies card from Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop; a $35 gift certificate from Seasons Innovative Bar & Grille; two Zalads and two milkshakes from Zaxby’s and a Town of Farragut pavilion rental.
First Runner-Up prizes are a gift bag with T-shirt and gift certificate worth more than $200 from OsteoStrong Farragut; a $50 gift certificate from Restaurant Linderhof; two Zalads from Zaxby’s; a $50 gift certificate from Rick Terry Jewelry Design and four skate rentals from Cool Sports.
Second Runner-Up prizes are a gift bag with one-month unlimited membership to Jazzercise at Campbell Station; a $25 gift certificate from Mario’s Pizza & Grill; two Big Zax Snack Meals from Zaxby’s; a $50 gift certificate from Rick Terry Jewelry Design and four skate rentals from Cool Sports
Deadline to complete the process at all four businesses is 9 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5.
The first 100 to visit each of the four businesses also will receive a prize from that business.
“It’s up to the Town folk, as the hunters post their findings, to track if they’ve been to all four [businesses],” said Stephen Krempasky, executive director of Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance that is coordinating the Treasure Hunt.
The key is “how the public can understand it; make it easy enough to enjoy and not too complicated,” Krempasky added. “But make it involved enough to get some excitement going.”
The four Town businesses to be discovered “gain their publicity as the contest progresses,” Krempasky said. “The businesses that contribute to the prize packages, they get ongoing coverage through our social media and whatever stories [news media] may do.”
First broaching the idea of a “treasure hunt” contest came “in late May,” Smith said, also crediting Sue Stuhl, Parks & Leisure Services director. “We’ve done contests in the past on a much smaller scale … we just wanted to jazz it up a little bit this year. It’s kind of experimental. We’ve never done anything like this before.
“It got tweaked a lot along the way,” Smith added. “Sue said, ‘We’ve got to work together with FBA on this, they’re going to have to help us with the groundwork.’”
“This is the brainchild of Wendy Smith,” Krempasky said about the treasure hunt. “It’s a great idea.”
Upon first contacting Krempasky, “He was all in. He’s had to do a tremendous amount of legwork to get it going,” Smith said. “And he’s all about getting traffic into small businesses.
“We wanted it to be fun and we wanted there to be prizes, but we wanted there to be something productive that came out of it,” she added. “In a capacity where people are actually going in and interacting with the business owners rather than just standing outside and taking a picture of something.”
“I’m sure that once Steve and I started discussing it we changed it even more.”
And by kind of expanding [the concept] and going back and forth, we’ve been able to involve quite a few businesses, which was my main concern from the beginning.”
