Co-Winner: PepsiCo Pepsi Refresh Project: Driving Awareness and Engagement Through Media
PepsiCo came up with a refreshing idea for its 2010 CSR efforts: to dedicate $20 million to fund good ideas—big and small—that take a community in a positive direction. The Pepsi Refresh Project would award up to $1.3 million in grant money to ideas that the public selected by online vote. To really add fizz to the project and generate ideas, votes and—not least—media coverage and the requisite goodwill, PepsiCo teamed with Edelman and Weber Shandwick to drive social conversation and voting around the 2010 launch.
On the first day of voting, Kevin Bacon and Demi Moore participated in a live “Great Ideas Brainstorm” session on Facebook. Pepsi Refresh Project “Ambassadors” also hosted chats on Pepsi’s Facebook page, and key voices were engaged in the digital space and were provided with regular updates on program milestones. At SXSW in Austin, Pepsi hosted a spot grant challenge between three digital influencers, with voting driven with idea-specific hashtags.
Social media was part of a larger communications mix (among the tactics was the decision by Pepsi not to advertise during the Super Bowl—which brought its own level of attention), but it helped inspired more than 4.5 million Americans to vote on PRP ideas and resulted in more than 1.2 million online comments about the program. More than 10,000 projects received votes in 2010—proving there’s no shortage of good ideas. —SG
Co-Winner: Yahoo! You In
Yahoo!’s “You In?” campaign had a simple objective: to challenge Yahoo!’s 600 million worldwide users to perform random acts of kindness during the holiday season, and encourage others to do the same. Yahoo! called upon its users to share news about their good deeds by updating their Yahoo! status with a brief description of their act of kindness along with the words “You In?” on all of Yahoo!’s social networks, including Yahoo! Mail, Profiles and Mobile.
This was a case of a company being perfectly suited to rolling out a viral CSR campaign. During the 2009 holiday season there were more than 320,000 status updates from over 18 countries, and a 30% increase in engagement with the status update feature in Yahoo! Mail. The campaign also drove 1 million brand impressions for nonprofits Network for Good, Global Giving and DonorsChoose. —SG
Campaign Lesson Learned: “When companies leverage their employees’ passions and empower them with opportunities to make a difference, they will make amazing things happen,” says Connie Chan, manager of Yahoo! For Good.
Honorable Mentions:
Fleishman-Hillard/The Allstate Foundation – #Tweet4YWCA Campaign: Seeking to help victims of domestic violence pursue long-term financial security, The Allstate Foundation and Fleishman-Hillard developed a Twitter-based campaign in which TAF pledged to donate $1 to YWCA (up to $75,000) for every tweet that used the hashtag #Tweet4YWCA. Despite limited resources, the campaign raised $75,000 in nine days.
Fleishman-Hillard/ConAgra Foods Foundation – Champions Against Child Hunger: ConAgra Foods and Fleishman-Hillard partnered with Share Our Strength to develop the “Champions Against Child Hunger” program, which asked people to nominate those who have contributed in the fight to end child hunger. For each submission, ConAgra would donate $10, with a $20,000 limit. Continued outreach to the more than 10,000 ConAgra Foods Foundation Facebook fans helped ConAgra reach its goal.
Lehigh Valley Health Network – Cell Limit 0: Lehigh Valley Network incorporated social media into its initiative to raise awareness of the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving. Among the tactics: a custom “Cell Limit 0” tab on its Facebook page; encouraging Facebook fans to post messages about distracted drivers; and tweeting safety tips about the dangers of distracted drivers. In a campaign like this, one new Facebook fan makes the effort worthwhile—and may save a life.
Sodexo, Inc. – Sodexo Foundation STOP: Hunger Scholarship Program Outreach: The Sodexo Foundation motivated more than 91,000 students to submit applications to the 2010 STOP Hunger Scholarship program, which recognizes students who have demonstrated commitment to ending hunger in America. This represented a 78% year-over-year increase in applications—partly attributable to a paid ad campaign on Facebook.
Toys“R”Us, Inc. – Toys“R”Us Invites Customers to “Join Shaq Give Back” to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation: For the 2009 holiday season, the official Toys“R”Us Facebook fan page was given a Shaq-A-Claus-themed redesign that featured videos of Shaquille O’Neal discussing why he gives back to children in need. Combined with Shaq’s Toys for Tots Twitter page, it helped Toys“R”Us collect 200,000 toys for underprivileged kids between Oct. 22 and Dec. 6, 2009.