After 14 years of supporting the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, appliance maker KitchenAid is tapping social media as its main platform for the annual “Cook for the Cure” charitable campaign in 2016.
In previous years, the brand has raised funds through the sales of its KitchenAid Pink collection and the sponsorship of live events such as Eat to the Beat and the Culinary Showdown.
While the Pink Collection and Eat to the Beat will continue this year, KitchenAid has now embraced social media as the campaign’s main platform in order to reach a broader and younger audience.
“There are so many worthwhile causes out there, and it’s making it harder for a single charity to stand out,” Janice Ryder, senior brand manager at KitchenAid, told Media in Canada. “We wanted to use social as a disruptor, especially because food is so big on social.”
The social campaign entitled “Show Us Your Foods” implores Canadian foodies to cook their favourite foods and upload photos of that food with #ShowUsYourFoods, log on to the Show Us Your Foods website, make a donation and then nominate a friend.
It’s communicating that message through boosted social posts on Facebook and Instagram, many featuring Canadian influencers such as chef Corbin Tomaszeski, fashion blogger Gracie Carroll, designer Shai DeLuca-Tamasi, chef Ned Ball and more. Those posts are expected to roll out over the next week and will run for approximately three weeks, although the website will remain up indefinitely.
The media buy for the campaign was executed by Cossette Media, with Zulu Alpha Kilo on creative. According to Ryder, the campaign naturally skews female, and while KitchenAid tends to aim for a broad 18 to 54 demographic, she said this campaign may naturally skew a bit younger due to the social aspect.
Ryder said KitchenAid’s activations over the years have raised $3.9 million toward the foundation so far.
This story originally appeared on MediaInCanada.com
