Walmart Grows Hunger-Fighting Brigade

Walmart recently concluded another flight of the annual "Fight Hunger. Spark Change" campaign benefitting Feeding America that won two Shopper Marketing Effie Awards last fall.The mass merchant and returning partners Campbell Soup Co., General Mills, Kellogg Co., Kraft-Heinz Co. and PepsiCo for the first time were joined by Discover, which promised to donate a meal (up to $1 million) for every card transaction made in stores or on walmart.com during the campaign.The effort followed the same simplified structure as the previous year: shoppers could donate at the register or trigger a one-meal donation with purchase of a participating product. Again employing a heavy digital component targeting Millennials, the effort also included online actions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that each triggered a 10-meal donation from Walmart. On April 21, Snapchat users were able to unlock an exclusive filter to share the effort with friends and also trigger a 10-meal donation.Walmart kicked off the campaign with a $1.5 million donation and aimed to reach a total of $3 million based on consumer participation.In stores, packaging adorned with a Fight Hunger sticker included Mills' Old El Paso and Cinnamon Toast Crunch as well as Kraft-Heinz's Cracker Barrel, Velveeta and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. PepsiCo's Quaker Life and Cap'n Crunch were among brands providing specially printed packaging.Other participating products (and, in some cases, non-qualifying brands) were merchandised under headers in a dedicated aisle, on endcaps (some of which included Smart Network ads), pallets, four-ways and upfront pallet trains. Smart Network ads underlined the regional aspect of the effort, showing a counter of "total meals secured for your local Feeding America member food bank." Security shrouds and directional ceiling signs rounded out the in-store activity.A home page carousel ad linked to a dedicated landing page that provided a counter listing the total number of donations (215,910,733) accrued. Display ads running on websites such as msn.com supported.The effort also got the cover of the retailer's April 17 circular, depicting Kellogg's Special K, PepsiCo's Quaker Chewy and Lipton, Mills' Totino's, Campbell's Pace and Kraft-Heinz's Heinz SKUs. Online videos as well as 15- and 30-second national and local TV spots directed consumers to stores to make a qualifying purchase. Run-of-press ads in newspapers such as the Charlotte Observer spotlighted eligible products. Local radio spots supported.Kellogg additionally sent a supporting email to members of its Kellogg's Family Rewards program on May 3.This year, Walmart Canada adopted the Fight Hunger. Spark Change platform to run its own campaign from April 20 to May 10 in partnership with Food Banks Canada.In related Feeding America news, the organization last month launched MealConnect, a free technology platform that simplifies food donation with backing from Walmart and General Mills.Earlier this year, Walmart hosted an effort from Unilever's Suave that triggered a shampoo donation with every purchase at the mass merchant.

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Deadline EXTENDED for 40 Under 40 Nominations

Kraft Heinz Building Generative AI Assistant