Reading Is Fundamental Cause Marketing Campaign with US Airways

In this second half of my online interview with Laura Goodman, Director of Corporate Relations at Reading Is Fundamental, we peel back the curtain a little bit to learn the particulars about the “Fly With US. Read With Kids” was developed, coordinated, and built. Read the first posting here.

RIF has decades of experience engaging with its audience, how does this compare?

This campaign leveraged the communication and marketing channels of a
corporate partner to excite parents and community members to read to their
children. Communicating through in-flight magazines, in-flight videos, airport lounges and displays and other methods helps RIF to message the importance of reading in places we would never otherwise be able to use to support our message. It’s a one-of-kind opportunity to extend our message!

How long have you had a relationship with USAirways and what has been its nature in the past?

RIF and US Airways have been working together since 2007. US Airways
supported our 2007 Gift of Reading Awards Gala – our annual benefit in Washington DC.

Did you test the concept of the finished product on your audience(s)? If so, what did you learn?

RIF and US Airways reviewed all materials internally, gaining feedback and
suggestions from both early childhood educators and experts and marketing and
communications professionals. Due to the timeline, we did not have a chance to
test the concepts on external audiences.

Playing online is the opposite of the kind of reading RIF typically encourages. How do you strike a balance between building a site that's so engaging people don't want to leave and accomplishing the goals of the campaign and the mission of RIF? Do you feel like you achieved that balance?

The Read with Kids Challenge website actually is geared towards adults, not
children, as you must be 18 years or older to be able to register for the challenge. With that in mind, the goal was to help foster a sense of community for the adult registrants and to create a website that would be enjoyable for them to share with their children. We know that when kids see their parents reading and talking about literacy it helps to show the importance the family places on reading. In general, RIF is dedicated to motivating young children to read by helping them discover the joy of reading through whatever means inspires each child. Our award-winning website, http://www.rif.org/, is full of fun games and activities that compliment literacy development in children. We don’t see any disconnect between having fun reading online and reading a book—both accomplish the goal of showing children that reading can be a fun activity!

What did the site cost to build? Who paid for it?

The website was sponsored by US Airways. The costs included both web
development costs and the staff time to promote and maintain the challenge.

Who did the work itself?

The planning and implementation of the campaign in all its aspects has been
managed by a team of 9 people at RIF, and a core team of 4 at US Airways.
Additional staff at both organizations have assisted with various aspects of the
campaign as needed. The print materials for the “Fly with US. Read with Kids.”
Campaign and the “Read with Kids Challenge” website were designed RIF and US
Airways. The customized Maisy book, Come Fly with Maisy, was created by
Candlewick Press. It’s been quite a joint effort!

Who developed the campaign?

The campaign concept was developed through months of brainstorming
conversations between US Airways and RIF.

What's the total campaign cost and who is paying for it?

US Airways is leveraging a variety of their assets to help promote RIF’s message and vision, particularly by providing both in-king marketing support as well as a generous financial donation. RIF values the partnership at approximately $1 million.

Batting Your Eyelashes at Prescription Drug Cause Marketing

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Cause Marketing: The All Packaging Edition

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Chili’s and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

I was in Chili’s today and I ordered their “Triple-Dipper,” a three appetizer combo. While I waited for the food, I noticed another kind of combo. Chili’s is doing a full-featured cause-related marketing campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. There was a four-sided laminated table tent outlining the campaign on the table. When the waitress brought the drinks she slapped down Chili’s trademark square paper beverage coasters and on them was a call to action for an element of the campaign called ‘Create-A-Pepper,’ a kind of paper icon campaign. The wait staff was all attired in black shirts co-branded with Chili’s and St. Jude. The Create-A-Pepper paper icon could be found in a stack behind the hostess area. The Peppers are outlines of Chili’s iconic logo meant to be colored. I paid $1 for mine, but they would have taken $5, $10, or more. The crayons, too, were co-branded with the ‘Create-A-Pepper’ and St. Jude’s logos. There’s also creatapepper.com, a microsite, but again wi...

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