Social media is realized when it creates social movements

At Dashboard, we are proud to have clients that break boundaries. But when you are able to break boundaries with brands that stand for something real, you find yourself in the best place a marketer can find themselves. You find yourself changing perceptions. You also realize that social media can affect positive social change.

Back in 2007 and 2008, Hellmann’s kicked off a program called the Real Food Movement. This initiative was encouraging people to grow, eat and talk about real food. The brand partnered with Evergreen (www.evergreen.ca) and sponsored 1,500 community gardens in Canada and awarded an additional 100 plots in urban centers. Moving forward to 2009, Hellmann’s wanted to do even more by motivating Canadians to engage and participate in the Real Food Movement at a deeper level. The evolution created a dedicated website, eatrealeatlocal.ca.

The website is a resource that provides Canadians with opportunities to take action and make a personal commitment to get more local food into their diet. Every action, pledge and/ or commitment using social media was counted with a target of 100,000 actions. If, through various pledges and actions that used Twitter, Facebook and other social media elements, the target was met, Hellmann’s would donate $25,000 to Evergreen. We extended the website by integrating all of the social media into an online conversation that we termed a “blog carnival”. This featured a national cross section of real food bloggers who spread the word and sparked conversation revolving around local food. Needless to say, we surpassed our initial goal very quickly, having sparked interest and action in the Real Food Movement that generated online and offline PR across Canada.

While our marketing and brand goals were met and surpassed, the real power of the program came from our consumer audience. They engaged with the brand to build a community and convey a message that was meaningful and relevant. They connected with Hellmann’s to strengthen everyone’s voice and empower each other to create a social movement behind local food. It is this shared conversation based on positive change that provides the real power in social media. The power to connect and to change perceptions for the betterment of all.

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