A unique pact with media giant Gannett this spring helped General Mills extend the reach of its annual “Outnumber Hunger” program both broadly and narrowly.A comprehensive plan encompassing paid advertising and added-value editorial content was expected to help General Mills raise awareness “in a way we haven’t been able to do so far,” chief marketing officer Mark Addicks said last month while speaking at Gannett’s annual “Upfront” event in New York.Launched in 2012, “Outnumber Hunger” is a portfolio-spanning cause campaign to benefit Feeding America, a national nonprofit that aids 37 million people through a network of 203 local food banks. Consumers are asked to submit codes from tens of millions of promotional packages spanning 20-plus General Mills brands to a dedicated website (OutnumberHunger.com). Each code triggers a five-meal donation (valued at 56 cents) to the cause. This year’s goal is 8 million meals; total contribution is capped at $1.2 million, half of which General Mills donated upfront.Program partner Big Machine Label Group, a top country music producer based in Nashville, Tenn., provides the artists who serve as the campaign’s face; the lineup has boasted Florida Georgia Line, The Band Perry, Rascal Flatts and Reba McIntire. In the last two years, the artists have also performed at a concert in Las Vegas that helps kick off the campaign nationally. (The event is timed to coincide with the Academy of Country Music Awards, for which much of the industry descends on Las Vegas.) Big Machine and the artists also pitch in on publicity via Facebook and Twitter.In addition to supporting General Mills’ philanthropic goals, the program gives the manufacturer a strong platform from which to build cross-category merchandising events with key retail partners that “drive awareness and shopper engagement,” Brian Kittelson, director of integrated shopper marketing, told Shopper Marketing last summer.To that end, Sam’s Club received an exclusive promotional window in March for the third straight year. The program again involved custom packaging and a higher donation level of 12 meals per code. (See "General Mills Fights ..." in Related Articles.) The retailer configured massive spectaculars out of General Mills’ custom pallet displays, which also encouraged club shoppers to text a special number to trigger the donation. (See Related Images at right.)The national effort launched April 14 and includes cross-merchandising with Big Machine music. “We have a number of retailers executing custom programs for ‘Outnumber Hunger’ this year,” said Cheryl Welch, General Mills’ integrated communications director, although the company declined to discuss specifics. (In past years, Sam’s Club sister Walmart has showcased custom packaging awarding seven meals per code as part of its own anti-hunger campaign.)Next month, Target will begin exclusively selling a CD of music from participating BMLG acts.Advertising in Two DirectionsNew to this year’s flight was Gannett, which touted its involvement at the Upfront (an annual event for media buyers and advertisers) as an example of corporate-wide efforts to give back to the communities in which it operates. “We’re helping to make hunger relevant both locally and nationally,” Gannett chief marketing officer Maryam Banikarim said. Participation also let the multi-media company showcase its ability to give advertisers both national scale and neighborhood-level penetration.The media plan for “Outnumber Hunger” ran the gamut from mass media to targeted advertising, and culminated on April 18 with one hour of concert highlights that aired across all of Gannett’s 33 TV networks – a first-of-its-kind occurrence – and also was streamed on USAToday.com and the websites of all the company’s local properties.The full media plan included:a full-page ad in USA Today on April 17 that publicized the promotion and the TV special.a two-week series of newspaper articles in 20 top markets leading up to the TV event that put local spins on the national hunger crisis.a special hunger-focused issue of Sunday newspaper magazine USA Weekend that ran in 80-plus markets on April 13.a national digital ad campaign that included units spotlighting specific General Mills brands and others that drove tune-in for the TV special.Running through the program’s May 18 conclusion, the online piece also boasts ads in select markets that use the geo-targeting capabilities of Gannett’s G/O Digital division to direct viewers to a specific store in the chains of retail partners Bi-Lo Holdings (Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo) and Ahold USA (Giant-Landover and Giant-Carlisle). The ads incorporate timely feature item and price data from the chains (via G/O’s ShopLocal service) to showcase a relevant General Mills product.All told, Gannett’s activity was expected to generate 75 million impressions. “It will take this program to a new level,” Addicks said at the Upfront.
