Tom's of Maine Turns Schools Green

Kennebunk, Maine — Tom’s of Maine, a natural personal care brand owned by Colgate-Palmolive, partnered with nonprofit DonorsChoose.org for a back-to-school promotion that focuses on giving back to schools. The “Green Your School” campaign will donate $1 million through the DonorsChoose.org crowdfunding website to various projects that make individual schools nationwide more sustainable.The campaign is a way for Tom’s of Maine to stand out in stores during a cluttered back-to-school season that was even more competitive this year because of Olympics-related promotions. It also helps the brand connect with its consumer target of moms who care about the planet, their kids, and the health and well-being of their family.“A lot of things that consumers are bombarded with around back-to-school are price-related. That’s the way that they communicate value,” says Matt Smith, shopper and customer marketing team leader at Tom’s of Maine. “We’re communicating value through values alignment.”In addition to donating 10% of its profits to environmental and charitable causes, the brand also creates this alignment through its major brand-level shopper program that is centered on Earth Month in April. With the “Green Your School” program, Tom’s is hoping to create another brand-level campaign with annual appeal. “We’re creating two big ideas during the year that can emotionally connect our consumer with the things that she cares about, but do it in a way that’s right for the time of year,” Smith says.According to Susan Dewhirst, PR and goodness programs manager for Tom’s of Maine, one reason this values-based approach to shopper marketing resonates with the Tom’s shopper is because she’s really busy. “We’re helping make it easier for her to align her values with her shopping,” Dewhirst says.While the “Green Your School” fund will contribute to many projects, teachers submit projects through DonorsChoose.org and a panel of judges select the most innovative entries from around the country. From July through October, these 10 projects are being submitted to a public vote, with the winners being announced in November. The top entries will receive the most project funding, with the first-place project receiving $25,000.The campaign has a promotional site, GreenSchoolFund.com, and is supported by Tom’s of Maine Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest activity. The program is also being promoted through Tom’s of Maine’s Goodness Circle blog, other blogging activity, and the brand’s network of more than 6,000 Natural Care Brigade recycling leaders nationwide.In-store activity includes displays, shelf signage and, in some cases, digital support using Catalina. Every display the brand ships out from July through September will feature “Green Your School” messaging. Retailer-specific activity includes a TerraCycle backpack giveaway at Sprouts; a TerraCycle backpack giveaway, blogger activity, endcap and shelf signage at Whole Foods; an endcap featuring “Green Your School” messaging and oral care and deodorant products together at Walgreens; and an endcap and special offer through Catalina at Hannaford.Tom’s of Maine will define the program’s success based on share growth on toothpaste, category growth during the promotion period and metrics relating to both earned media and social engagement. “We hope that we’re able to break through to the consumer in a way that isn’t your typical back-to-school promotion by being true to who we are,” Dewhirst says. “By doing it in this values-driven way, as our founder would say, values drives value.”Partners for the campaign include shopper agency The Mars Agency, Southfield, Michigan; earned media agency Cohn & Wolfe, New York City; and Red Fuse Communications, Kansas City, Missouri, which created the website.

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