Be a Good Cookie: Keebler & American Red Cross
The Keebler/American Red Cross Be a Good Cookie. Get a Good Cookie, two-year campaign is targeted to reach moms and inspire “little acts of goodness”, specifically helping the Red Cross meet the ever-growing demand for blood and blood products.
The campaign kicked off in August 2011 with a media tour featuring retired football star Jerry Rice and combined on-package advertising with an aggressive public relations and social media strategy to encourage individuals to donate blood to save a life. Each donation of blood can save up to three lives.
In exchange for this act of generosity, Red Cross blood donors are rewarded with Keebler cookies to increase blood sugar levels after donating blood. Keebler has pledged a donation of six million cookies annually to be served at all Red Cross blood drives. This donation is budget relieving to Red Cross who normally purchases cookies.
At 600 blood drives a day, the Red Cross has advertised the partnership through welcome posters, counter mats, table signage and stickers, and staff members who drew from talking points and FAQs to help them speak about the positive benefits of the partnership.
The “Be a Good Cookie” campaign will be featured on approximately 175 million packages of cookies annually. Since the on-package advertising began, Keebler has reported an increase in sales and increased consumer response to their brand perception.
In addition, Keebler’s donation of over six million cookies per year for two years to Red Cross Blood Services provides the Red Cross an organizational cost savings of nearly $2 million annually ($4 million total for two years). Beyond the cookies and related cost-savings, this partnership is also critically important to the Red Cross because of the visibility it provides encouraging the public to donate blood.
Judges loved that this campaign was not about fundraising, but about underwriting costs and boosting awareness for both brand and cause and appreciated the appropriateness of the brand/cause fit.
