Taste of Groupon - Groupon and Feeding America
A pioneer of the deal-of-the-day website model, Groupon has gained increasing competition since its inception in 2008.
Groupon’s largest deal category is Food & Drink. Once a year, Groupon celebrates some of its most popular and successful Food & Drink deals with a collection called, “Taste of Groupon” to help people embrace new restaurant dining experiences.
Since sharing a meal with someone is embedded in so many cultures and is one of the primary ways that people celebrate, connect and communicate, Groupon partnered with Feeding America to infuse a charitable focus into “Taste of Groupon”. Their goal was to bring attention to the fight against hunger in a way that allowed customers to participate simply by buying a Groupon.
Over the course of one week, for every restaurant deal bought—big or small—Groupon donated a meal to someone in need through Feeding America. This collective action joined Groupon and their customers in providing meals while celebrating some of Groupon’s favorite merchants.
Groupon also partnered with celebrity chef, “The Chew” co-host, and Feeding America supporter, Carla Hall. During the campaign, Groupon included Carla’s image on promotional banners. The website highlighted a question-and-answer blog from Carla talking about her favorite potluck dish, what foods she craves, and why she supports Feeding America.
Groupon promoted this campaign with the full strength of their marketing machine. Groupon, Feeding America, and Carla Hall promoted the campaign to their social networks—reaching a total audience of 13.3 million supporters.
Campaign goals were to overcome new or re-featured merchants’ perceptions of Groupon, secure new top merchants attributed to the partnership with Feeding America, increase sales of Food & Drink vouchers during the “Taste of Groupon” campaign, excite consumers about the one-to-one match and engage a celebrity chef.
As a result of the “Taste of Groupon” campaign, Groupon donated $43,420.30 to Feeding America, which helped to secure 434,203 meals for those in need. This campaign was so successful that “Taste of Groupon” is scheduled again for 2015.
