Advertiser: PANERA BREAD
Agency: CRAMER KRASSELT
Category: Social Media & Viral Marketing
Advertising campaign: FOOD CHAIN REACTION
SVP/Digital/Design Director: Kevin Flatt (Cramer-Krasselt)
SVP/Executive Creative Director: Derek Green (Cramer-Krasselt)
Photography: Michael Maes
Associate Creative Director: Julie Karnes (Cramer-Krasselt)
Senior Art Director: Sangbum Kim (Cramer-Krasselt)
VP/Senior Producer/Interactive: Lori Talley (Cramer-Krasselt)
Senior UX Strategist: Travis Smith (Cramer-Krasselt)
VP/Associate Creative Director: Bill Dow (Cramer-Krasselt)
EVP/Chief Creative Officer: Marshall Ross (Cramer-Krasselt)
Execution
The biggest barriers to change are awareness and local involvement. Panera has always been involved in local charities. And its fans trust Panera as a facilitator for charitable movements. So we created a program that was at its heart about rallying local communities and organically spreading awareness. Helping people spread the 1 in 6 statistic by working it into our activation idea and helping people do good in their local communities was the key to the success of this program.
Client Brief Or Objective
1 in 6 people in America don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Panera Bread wanted to help feed the nation by getting their community involved. We targeted the local communities as well as Panera customers to help spread education about hunger in America as well as give people direct ways to help donate meals to those in need. Confronting people with the realities of hunger in their communities and giving them simple ways to come together to do something was the goal.
Implementation
Panera believes people are good and want to help. They just need someone to give them an opportunity. So that’s what we did. Locally, Panera Cares Cafes opened and operated on a “pay what you can” model – people in need can pay nothing for a meal, others “overpay” to help. Nationally, the ‘Food Chain Reaction’ app turned the statistic into a social activation idea. Users could invite friends to join their chain reaction. Every time 5 people got together, Panera donated a meal to that 6th person in need via a partnership with Feeding America.
Outcome
It turns out we were right – people are good. All of the Panera Cares Cafes are completely self-sustaining. And the Food Chain Reaction app helped people spread awareness and get involved in their communities. With zero advertising money behind it, users sent over half a million invites to help fight hunger. And helped donate specially developed nutritious soups to people in need through Feeding America.The program also gained national media coverage, created a buzz during a SXSW presentation on socially conscious capitalism and most importantly, more people became aware of the problem of hunger and got involved in a solution.