For the first time, Boston Pizza is promoting its annual Kids Cards campaign — aimed at providing mentorship to children in need — with a 15-second television spot.
Available for a minimum donation of $5, the Kids Card provides five free Kids meals worth up to $35. Proceeds go to the Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects program, with every $5 providing a child with an hour with a role model or mentor.
The program started in 2006 and has generated more than $4.8 million in donations since it began. Last year, Boston Pizza raised $890,000 during the promotion and hopes to raise more than $1 million this year.
“From Day One, it’s been pretty successful,” says Adrian Fuoco, director of marketing at Boston Pizza.
Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects partners with organizations that provide kids in Canada with role models and mentoring programs, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, JDRF, Kids Help Phone, Live Different and the Rick Hansen Foundation.
The TV spot, created by Taxi, is running for four weeks and is running on Sportsnet and several Corus Entertainment stations, with family programming being targeted.
“This is the first year where we’re really amping up our communications to take it beyond that core group of customers who buy the card year after year,” Fuoco says. “We want to really expand our reach.”
In Quebec, a radio spot created by Zip is running instead of the TV spot.
Instead of putting the emphasis on the five meals for $5 offer, Fuoco says more effort is being placed on “creating a better connection to the message around the charity – to help clarify for people that it’s actually a $5 donation that goes toward future prospects to help connect kids with a role model.”
The campaign is also being promoted with online banner ads, “with more focus on Facebook and Twitter as well as the programmatic buy to drive our online ordering,” he says. “In terms of targeting, we’re now spending a little bit more effort on driving people both into the store as well as to our website.”
In addition, Boston Pizza has partnered with 20 family influencers across Canada to raise awareness of Kids Cards.
The Kids Cards are available for purchase in store and online until Oct. 2, 2016 and can be redeemed until June 30, 2017. Members of the MyBP loyalty program can get six kids meals for $5.
High Road handles PR for Boston Pizza.
