Social Media for Social Good: From Land O’Lakes to Lush
Land O’Lakes is on a mission to “delete hunger one photo at a time.” The brand’s new Delete to Feed campaign is partnering with Feeding America to raise awareness about hunger in the United States, and donate millions of meals to those in need.
Land O’Lakes is harnessing the popularity of foodie content on Instagram in an unusual way. It encourages Instagram users to do the opposite of posting drool-worthy food, promising to donate 11 meals for every single food photo that an Instagram user deletes from her account. Participants just have to link their Instagram accounts on the Delete to Feed website, and select the photo they want to delete.
The campaign is scheduled to run through mid-October or when it reaches its goal of 2.75 million meals donated (valued at about $250,000).
Land O’Lakes is just one recent example of brands using social media for social good. Here are a few other past campaigns that show creativity and passion for a cause.
Lush Cosmetics joined forces with the nonprofit AllOut to support LGBT rights around the world. Lush used the buildup to Pride celebrations in June 2015 to launch an awareness campaign, emphasizing that LGBT rights are human rights. Its objectives were to:
- Educate people on the facts (for example, at the time, being gay was illegal in 76 countries, and it could cost you your life in 10 of them)
- Raise money through the sale of a limited-edition soap to support small grassroots LGBT charities, especially those in countries where homosexuality is a crime
The hashtag #GayisOK accompanied in-store and social media efforts, and the campaign used #GayisOK selfies from staff, influencers and customers. At the end of the campaign, Lush had sold 107,000 bars of soap, breaking its goal of £250,000.
5 for Big Cats by National Geographic
Big cats in the wild are disappearing rapidly, and National Geographic timed a social media campaign around World Lion Day (August 10) to rally its fans around research and conservation efforts. The brand’s 5 For Big Cats campaign had a simple call to action across all social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+). Fans sent a virtual “high-five”– a photo, video or drawing of themselves giving a high-five, with the hashtag #5ForBigCats – and gave $5 to the Big Cats Initiative.
The campaign got a lot of attention from fans and celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashley Judd and Debra Messing. It exceeded its $10,000 goal, earning more than $200,000 for initiatives to protect livestock, avoid retaliation hunting and combat poaching.
Online communities can be places of support and understanding, but they can also be breeding grounds for cyberbullying and negativity. Tumblr launched a 2015 campaign called Post It Forward to create a safe and compassionate online space for its users.
Tumblr users were encouraged to share a piece of advice, a positive message or a lesson learned that helped them through a difficult time and could help others. The campaign launched with videos from celebrities including Elizabeth Banks, Vice President Joe Biden, Pete Wentz and Brittany Snow, as well as prominent Tumblr influencers. Thousands of users created content with the hashtag #PostItForward, and the brand also released new features to improve user experience and prevent harassment.
How can your brand use social media for social good? Get in touch with MtoM about building your social media strategy.