Charity Belly Flop Contest Slams the Competition to Win QVC's Qforce Buzz Contest

Charity Belly Flop Contest Slams the Competition to Win QVC's Qforce Buzz Contest

WEST CHESTER, Pa., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- In a room of more than a thousand QVC employees and company vendors, winners of the inaugural Qforce contest were announced yesterday at the Studio Park headquarters of QVC, Inc. Qforce is the buzz marketing contest of employee ambassadors whose challenge was to blanket the media with images of a t-shirt emblazoned with the Qforce logo.

With more than 725 employees entering into the contest, media placements ran from national talk shows to local print media to viral outlets. The grand prize winner was Bern Gallagher, a five-year QVC veteran who implemented a belly-flop contest/fundraiser to benefit Cure Autism Now. The contest entrants sported the Qforce t-shirts as they demonstrated their technique before a panel of judges.

Gallagher, inspired by his nephew's battle with autism, got his flop-fest talked up on a local morning news show in the fourth largest media market - then went national with the story when video of his fundraiser hit the viral media. QVC host Dave King emceed the event where 20 people took their first- class flops to a local swimming pool.

Three other contest winners were selected for their unique approach, breaking through the clutter as brand ambassadors. These entries included a group of employees at QVC's Lancaster distribution center, all wearing their t-shirts, hosted a 20th birthday celebration for QVC to raise money for a variety of charities gained local news attention. The creation of an animated QVC character that was broadcast on a viral Internet site picked up thousands of hits. Special recognition was given to employee Peter Fey, brother of Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey. Peter got the award for taking QVC buzz to the next level by having Tina show off the Qforce shirt on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

"This was a great opportunity to strategically market from the inside out, giving our employees the ultimate permission to be creative," said Jeff Charney, QVC's senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "The breakthrough buzz for QVC created human impressions through traditional and non-traditional media forms. Our employees definitely stepped up to the plate and to me, these people are brand heroes."

Over 725 people across America globetrotted to become brand ambassadors for QVC. The contest spanned 27 states, 3 continents and generated over 65 million impressions in a more effective, efficient manner than a traditional marketing campaign. Qforce is the first initiative in a three-pronged approach. Aimed at involving the people who are closest to the QVC brand, two additional phases targeting its vendor population and core customers, will be launched in the upcoming months.

QVC, Inc., a $7 billion company, is an e-commerce leader, marketing a wide variety of brand name products in such categories as home furnishings, licensed products, fashion, beauty, electronics and fine jewelry. QVC reaches over 160 million homes worldwide. Other divisions/subsidiaries include QVC.com, QVC @, QVC Local and QVC ProductWorks. The QVC Studio Tour is located at the company's world headquarters in West Chester, Pa. QVC is a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation.

Source: QVC, Inc.

CONTACT: Kate Kirsch of QVC, Inc., +1-484-701-1048, or
kathleen_kirsch@qvc.com

Web site: http://www.qvc.com/

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