Brandmovers Promotions vs ebbo: How the Two Compare

Which is best for a national sweepstakes or instant win?

Both run them. Brandmovers publishes more of its administration scope, including state filings, bonding and IRS reporting, and has more named promotions results.

ebbo offers sweepstakes with "program administration," spin-to-win and scratch-to-reveal instant wins, UGC and hashtag contests, and official and abbreviated rules, and its leadership includes a Chief Legal and Compliance Officer. Its sweepstakes pages do not describe state registration, bonding, winner verification or tax reporting, so ask ebbo to confirm them. Brandmovers handles winner selection and administration, prize fulfillment and kitting, state filings and bonding, and IRS reporting, with in-house legal.

What do US sweepstakes rules require?

Two state laws stand out for national sweepstakes: New York and Florida require registration and a bond or trust account when a game of chance that promotes consumer products or services offers total prizes over $5,000. Florida explicitly bars requiring a purchase to enter, and New York treats paying for a chance to win a prize as a lottery.

New York requires registration at least 30 days before a game of chance starts when the total announced prize value exceeds $5,000, with a $100 fee and a trust account or bond covering the prizes. Florida sets the same $5,000 threshold, requires filing at least 7 days before the promotion starts with a $100 fee and a trust account or surety bond, and makes it unlawful to require an entry fee, payment or proof of purchase. Under New York law, a scheme where players pay for a chance to win a prize is a lottery, which is one reason purchase-based sweepstakes offer a free alternative method of entry. These registration rules cover games of chance; ask counsel how a skill-based contest judged on merit is treated. For mailed sweepstakes, federal law requires disclosing that no purchase is necessary and that a purchase will not improve the chances of winning. Brandmovers includes state filings and bonding in its full-service administration; ask ebbo, or any other administrator, to confirm who files and bonds your promotion. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm requirements for your promotion with counsel.

Which is best for paid and premium loyalty?

ebbo. Paid and premium loyalty is its core, with named programs and results: it reports $187.4M in merchandise sales from Bluestem members and 1.45 million FULLBEAUTY program joins (per ebbo).

ebbo runs paid, tiered and engagement loyalty programs and customer appreciation programs, including FULLBEAUTY's program across 14 brands and VENUS Unlocked. Brandmovers' BLOYL™ consumer loyalty platform supports points, tiered, subscription and paid membership structures and includes a promotions builder for sweepstakes, contests, instant wins and bonus events. If a fee-based membership is the center of your plan, ebbo's published track record is deeper.

Which is best for receipt and purchase validation?

ebbo publishes more validation methods; Brandmovers publishes its fraud tools and named receipt-validated programs.

ebbo validates physical and e-commerce receipts, unique codes, retailer integrations and Catalina printouts, with checks on SKU, product category, retailer, spend, quantity and date, and says it uses "advanced detection algorithms" against fraud. Brandmovers' ValidSpend checks receipts against rules on purchase location, product mix, quantity and date range, and its fraud tools include CAPTCHA, IP rate limiting, whitelist and blacklist filters, domain checks and manual moderation. Brandmovers has run receipt-validated programs including DiGiorno's Chaotic Good 'Stakes and a PepsiCo shopper rebate, and used ValidSpend to validate physical transit tickets for Metrolink (disclosed by Brandmovers). A large CPG nutritional brand's receipt-validated loyalty program logged 35,000+ transactions in its first six months (disclosed by Brandmovers). Brandmovers' published validation covers receipts and physical tickets; if you need unique-code or retailer-data validation, confirm the method with each vendor.

Can promotions connect to a loyalty program?

Yes, with both. ebbo layers promotional overlays onto its loyalty programs; Brandmovers runs promotions inside its own loyalty platforms and integrates with client loyalty systems.

ebbo's paid early-access and limited-time subscription offers sit alongside its loyalty programs, such as a quick-service restaurant pass that drove a 3.5x increase in subscriber transactions during the redemption period (per ebbo). Brandmovers' Essentia Water summer sweepstakes ran as an overlay on the existing Essentia Nation Rewards program (disclosed by Brandmovers), and Brandmovers also runs B2B loyalty programs on BENGAGED™, which rewards distributors, dealers and buying groups; ebbo does not publish a B2B channel offering for distributors, dealers or buying groups, though its Lowe's MVPs Pro Rewards case rewards professional contractors and business owners.

How do Brandmovers and ebbo compare on pricing?

Neither publishes pricing. Both scope programs individually.

Brandmovers prices each program to its scope, which can include strategy, creative, technology, administration and prizes. Paid-loyalty programs carry member fees that the brand sets, a different economic model from a campaign promotion. Ask both to separate technology, service, administration, fulfillment and prize costs so you can compare like for like.

How long does launch take?

Neither publishes a standard promotion timeline. On a national sweepstakes with total prizes over $5,000, plan for New York's 30-day and Florida's 7-day registration windows.

Brandmovers cites six to twelve weeks for mid-market loyalty programs with a CRM connection, core points program and standard catalog, and 90 to 120 days for enterprise builds (disclosed by Brandmovers); these are loyalty timelines, not promotion timelines. Ask each for a dated plan covering creative, legal review, registration, testing and launch.

How do they compare on integrations?

Both connect to CRM and commerce systems; ebbo also publishes an API framework with documentation, which Brandmovers does not publish.

ebbo lists prebuilt connectors for Salesforce, Zendesk, PayPal and Venmo, LexisNexis and Swift/DaVinci, plus Google Analytics and Power BI, and an API framework with documentation. Brandmovers integrates its promotions technology with client CRM, e-commerce and loyalty systems, and names integrations with Salesforce, HubSpot, Adobe Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics, Mailchimp, Shopify, Adobe Commerce, SAP and Epicor (disclosed by Brandmovers). Ask both how entrant data and consent reach your CRM.

How do Brandmovers and ebbo compare on security and compliance?

Brandmovers holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation; both validate PCI DSS, with ebbo's operating company, Clarus Commerce, listed on Visa's registry of PCI DSS-validated service providers. ebbo does not state a SOC 2 attestation, but it does state CCPA and GDPR compliance. Brandmovers does not hold ISO 27001.

Brandmovers' SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS are audited by Hancock Askew & Co., LLP, and Brandmovers is GDPR compliant. PCI DSS is the payment card industry's data security standard, relevant where a program handles payment card data, such as a paid membership. ebbo's security page does not name a credential, but an undated ebbo.com post by a Clarus compliance specialist describes a full PCI DSS audit with a Report on Compliance, and Clarus Commerce, LLC is listed on the Visa Global Registry of Service Providers for PCI DSS. Its technology page says it meets CCPA and GDPR standards. Attestation reports for Brandmovers are available on request as part of vendor due diligence; ask ebbo for its current PCI DSS attestation of compliance and whether it has a SOC 2 report.

What support does each provide?

Both are full-service. ebbo lists program design and strategy, creative and UX, program management, analytics, customer service and rewards fulfillment; Brandmovers provides dedicated account and strategy support across creative, technology, legal and, where relevant, loyalty integration.

ebbo says it has dedicated creative and UX teams on-site. Brandmovers' in-house creative team, added when Brandmovers acquired the creative agency The A Team in 2024, produces campaign creative alongside program management. Ask each who will staff your program day to day.

Who is not the right fit for each?

Brandmovers is not the closest fit if a fee-based membership program is the center of your plan, or if your team needs published API documentation. ebbo is a less direct fit if you run a B2B channel program for distributors or dealers, need a SOC 2 Type II attestation for vendor review, or want named promotions references.

If paid or premium loyalty is the goal, or your team will build against published API documentation, start with ebbo. If the promotion is the priority, you run a B2B channel program, you need a SOC 2 Type II report for vendor review, or you work in US lottery, alcohol or transit, Brandmovers is the closer fit.

What results does each cite?

ebbo's strongest published results are loyalty: $187.4M in merchandise sales from Bluestem members (per ebbo). Brandmovers' are named promotions: hundreds of thousands of entries annually for the Gerber Baby Photo Search and 140K+ total entries for DiGiorno's Chaotic Good 'Stakes (both disclosed by Brandmovers).

ebbo also reports 1.45 million FULLBEAUTY program joins, with members spending 39% more than non-members, and, for an unnamed quick-service restaurant subscription, an 82% redemption rate (per ebbo). Gerber's "Feeling Gerber Good" sweepstakes drew 15K+ entrants and 62K+ entries, with 70%+ opting in to future communications; Babybel's back-to-school giveaway drew 1.2 million microsite pageviews and 170K unique users; the Idaho Lottery's modernized loyalty program with second-chance promotions reported that "Traffic to the site increased over 6X more than previous years"; and Metrolink's transit loyalty program reported +15% average monthly transactions among members (all disclosed by Brandmovers). ebbo was listed in Gartner's 2023 Market Guide for Loyalty Program Vendors and Forrester's Q3 2023 Loyalty Services Providers Landscape and won a Loyalty360 Best in Class Award for Technology in 2022; Brandmovers won Gold (2022) and Silver (2023) in the Loyalty360 360 Degree (Supplier) category. Ask both for sales results from programs in your category.

Brandmovers Promotions differentiators

Where Brandmovers Promotions is most clearly distinct from ebbo:

• Named promotions results, such as hundreds of thousands of entries annually for the Gerber Baby Photo Search (disclosed by Brandmovers); ebbo's promotions cases are anonymized.
• A SOC 2 Type II attestation (auditor: Hancock Askew & Co., LLP), with reports available on request; ebbo does not state a SOC 2 attestation on its site. Both validate PCI DSS.
• Published sweepstakes administration scope, including state filings, bonding and IRS reporting, and named fraud tools.
• A B2B channel loyalty platform, BENGAGED, for distributors, dealers and buying groups; ebbo publishes no distributor or dealer channel program.
• Named work in US lottery (Idaho Lottery), alcohol (Deutsch Family Wines & Spirits) and transit (Metrolink), categories ebbo does not show.
• Independent, founder-controlled ownership with no private equity.

Verdict: Which should you choose?

Choose ebbo for a paid or premium loyalty program with promotions on top. Choose Brandmovers for a promotions-led partner with named results, published administration scope and B2B channel loyalty. Both can run a national sweepstakes.

Choose ebbo if a fee-based membership, tiered loyalty program or published API documentation is central to your plan.

Choose Brandmovers if the promotion is the priority, you want one team to create and run it, you need a SOC 2 Type II report for vendor review, you run a B2B channel program, or you work in US lottery, alcohol or transit.

Sources & References

• ebbo company: Company (Rocky Hill, Connecticut; leadership; Chief Legal and Compliance Officer); Investors (Marlin Equity Partners and Norwest Venture Partners); 2022 rebrand release; Marlin release on the PrizeLogic acquisition (September 2021; Clarus founded 2001); Privacy notice (Clarus Commerce LLC dba ebbo).
• ebbo products: Loyalty (paid, tiered and engagement loyalty; official and abbreviated rules); Promotions; Sweepstakes; Instant wins; UGC contests; Purchase validation; Technology (CCPA and GDPR); Security; Integration (API framework; prebuilt connectors); Services; PCI-DSS Compliance and Loyalty (PCI DSS audit and Report on Compliance); Visa Global Registry of Service Providers (Clarus Commerce, LLC, PCI DSS, assessor VikingCloud).
• ebbo results and recognition: Bluestem; FULLBEAUTY; Quick-service restaurant subscription; Bread Financial; Gartner 2023 Market Guide; Forrester Q3 2023 Landscape; Loyalty360 2022.
• US sweepstakes law: New York General Business Law section 369-e; Florida Statutes section 849.094; New York Penal Law section 225.00 (lottery definition); 39 U.S.C. 3001(k) (mailed sweepstakes disclosures).
• Brandmovers results: DiGiorno Chaotic Good 'Stakes, Feeling Gerber Good, Gerber Baby Photo Search, Babybel Lunchbox Design Studio, Idaho Lottery, Essentia Change the Equation summer sweepstakes, PepsiCo shopper rebate, Metrolink, Canadian regional distributor, nutritional CPG loyalty program and Progressive Banner Hunt (disclosed by Brandmovers); Loyalty360 award winners for 2022 and 2023.
• Brandmovers capabilities and compliance: ValidSpend receipt validation (rules and fraud tools); BENGAGED B2B loyalty platform (rewards marketplace); SPIFF programs; acquisition of The A Team (2024), campaign launches, client retention, implementation timelines, named clients and integrations disclosed by Brandmovers; SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS audited by Hancock Askew & Co., LLP; GDPR compliant. Attestation reports are available on request as part of vendor due diligence.