The Grocery Foundation launched its annual Toonies for Tummies campaign, which raises money for children’s breakfast programs in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. The campaign, which is supported by grocery retailers and CPG companies, is seeking to raise $1 million by asking consumers to donate $2 at participating grocers.
This year, the non-profit organization partnered with Breakthrough Communications and Fifth Story, putting a heavier focus on public relations and social media to drive donations.
A 60-second video produced by Fifth Story features children’s unscripted answers to questions like what’s their favourite breakfast and what can you buy with a toonie. The video will be promoted through earned, owned and shared media, and will also air on local TV stations in Ontario and Atlantic Canada until Feb. 18.
Fifth Story created 45 custom versions of the spot – one for each supporting sponsor – including their name and logo. The videos will be promoted via the sponsors’ owned media channels. Fifth Story also edited the video to create a six-second Vine for further social media exposure. And on Jan. 27, The Grocery Foundation held a Twitter party with social media partner Food Bloggers of Canada, resulting in 22 million impressions in the first 24 hours.
“The Grocery Foundation hasn’t done a PR campaign as extensive as this,” said Michelle Scott, executive director of The Grocery Foundation. “We really wanted to connect with the consumer [this year] and thought we would try a couple of different avenues.”
In past years, The Grocery Foundation focused on the issue of kids going hungry.
“[But] there wasn’t a dialogue about the issue and there wasn’t a forum to elevate the issue and have greater dialogue,” said Gabby Nobrega, principal of Breakthrough Communications. “We’ve now created that forum.”
Another new element this year is the ability for consumers to track where their toonie is going. The Grocery Foundation worked with the Ontario Student Nutrition Program to create the “Toonie Tracker” on the TooniesForTummies.ca microsite. People can enter their postal code to see the location of the local schools their toonie helps. A survey by The Grocery Foundation found that 87.5% of Canadians are inclined to give more to a charity if they know where their donation is going. “So we made the program hyper-local,” said Nobrega.
The PR program also includes internal and industry communications for participating companies. “We wanted to make sure that all of the companies are armed with information to inform their own employees about the issue,” said Nobrega.
There’s also a robust POS program for participating grocery stores, as well as a coupon booklet for those who donate.
