Pretty In Pink

Retailers, suppliers use social media to create community around breast cancer awareness.

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, lots of supermarkets are going pink by highlighting select items that support breast cancer charities. However, many of the participating retailers and suppliers are taking their message out of the supermarket aisles, using social media to drive awareness and create community around the cause.

Breast cancer directly affects one in eight women in the United States, according to the Frisco, Texas-based National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Awareness of the disease, says Paul R. Jones, a cause marketing consultant with Alden Keene & Associates in Sandy, Utah, "is a message that resonates. You don't have to look hard to find someone in your life who has been touched by breast cancer."

Given the disease's wide impact, combined with stellar marketing, it's no wonder pink campaigns for a variety of breast cancer organizations have become "ubiquitous," explains Jones.

At supermarkets, breast cancer awareness campaigns are in full swing in almost every department, including produce.

Pairing produce with breast cancer awareness is a natural fit, says Debbie Augustine, CEO of AugustineIdeas. "The message — that eating a balanced diet that's high in fruits and vegetables helps you stay healthy before and after cancer — is a proven one," she explains. The Roseville, Calif.-based marketing and public relations agency works with produce growers as well as retailers to create cause marketing campaigns, including the "Pink Ribbon Produce" program, to drive consumption of fruits and vegetables.

During the month of October, more than 500 Harris Teeter, Meijer and Price Chopper stores are participating in Pink Ribbon Produce to raise funds for NBCF. The stores are highlighting fruits and vegetables from 27 produce suppliers — including Alpine Fresh, Del Monte Fresh Produce, Dole, Earthbound Farm, Fresh Express, Gourmet Trading, Mastronardi Produce, NatureSweet, Paramount Citrus and Turbana — with a Pink Ribbon Produce icon on posters and point-of-sale signs. To help educate about breast cancer and increase awareness of Pink Ribbon Produce, social media and QR codes are available. New this year: customers can text "Pink HT" for Harris Teeter, "PINK M" for Meijer or "Pink PC" for Price Chopper to 80077 to make a donation.

"Many of our efforts are targeting women who do most of the shopping," says Augustine, adding that her marketing firm works on the "Let's Move! Salad Bars to Schools" campaign, for which it piloted the text-to-donate feature. "Pink Ribbon Produce is a wonderful platform to speak with women about breast health."

Since its inception in 2005, Pink Ribbon Produce has raised more than $304,000 for NBCF's efforts, which include increasing awareness through education, and providing diagnostic breast care services and support services.

Already engaged in discussions about healthy lifestyles on social media, California Giant Berry Farms is using QR codes on special pink-ribbon packages of its strawberries to direct consumers to its social media campaign, "We Support Supporters." On Facebook and Twitter, the Watsonville-based produce company is empowering consumers to nominate and select five cancer charities that will receive California Giant's Breast Cancer Awareness Month donations. It's also a forum where consumers can share their stories.

In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and NBCF, Potandon Produce's Klondike Rose and Klondike Goldust potatoes are also donning pink packaging. Like the Pink Ribbon Produce campaign, Klondike's efforts tout the benefits of a healthy diet that includes potatoes and other fresh vegetables. Additionally, the company's packaging stresses the importance of mammograms for early cancer detection.

Barbara Keckler, marketing supervisor for Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Potandon Produce, says NBCF's focus on awareness resonated with the company and inspired it to help increase awareness as well.

Along with offering special incentives to retailers and coupons to consumers, Potandon Produce is using Facebook, Twitter, and "Cancer Survivor and Memorial Walls" on Pinterest to spread its cause marketing message.

Supermarkets large and small are using social media to drive awareness of the cause, and also to interact and engage with their customers. As part of its "Giving Hope a Hand" campaign, which received a 2012 Gold HALO award from the Rye, N.Y.-based Cause Marketing Forum, The Kroger Co. has launched an interactive website, www.sharingcourage.com, that features the stories of 48 employees who have survived breast cancer. The women are also featured on custom packaging of private label and national-brand products. Further, the site serves as a place where customers can share their stories and post words of encouragement.

Also new this year for Kroger is a text-driven donation campaign; each time someone texts "PINK" to 80404, Yoplait, a brand of Minneapolis-based General Mills, will donate $1, up to a total of $75,000, to Dallas-based Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For the year, the Cincinnati-based supermarket giant has pledged $3 million in donations for local breast cancer initiatives. By the end of 2012, Kroger, dubbed "the most generous company in America" by Forbes, will have donated more than $21 million to support breast cancer research, education and services since it began its annual Giving Hope a Hand program in 2006.

United Supermarkets has also added a social media component to its breast cancer fundraising campaign. Last year, the family-owned chain teamed up with suppliers to launch the "Who Are You Pink For?" promotion for its 30 stores in Texas.

In addition to participating suppliers donating a portion of their proceeds of specially marked products and sales of pink reusable bags, the Lubbock, Texas-based company is encouraging its customers to share their breast cancer stories on the company's Facebook page or to tweet them to #BreastCancerAwareness month. For each story shared, United Supermarkets will make a $5 donation — up to $10,000 — toward breast cancer research and awareness.

In the delis at retailers such as Schnucks, ShopRite and Caputo's Fresh Market, Healthy Ones is spreading the message about breast cancer awareness through its pink packaging and in-store point-of-sale materials. It's a message that the deli meat brand, a division of Cincinnati-based John Morrell Food Group, has taken to social media. In addition to a $50,000 donation to the New York-based Breast Cancer Research Foundation, The Healthy Ones Facebook page engages with the community about breast cancer and is a forum for sharing survivor stories.

Some companies are using social media to get individuals involved in the product and the cause before it hits the shelf. In an unusual move, Sartori Cheese in Plymouth, Wis., set out to create a product to support breast cancer research and NBCF, explains Chad Vincent, chief marketing officer. "The desire to do a product for breast cancer research came first," Vincent says. "We have incredibly creative master cheesemakers, and we encourage them to play."

One of the cheesemakers took crushed peppermint, applied it to the exterior of the award-winning BellaVitano cheese and set it aside to age. "When the candy melted, it turned an incredible pink hue," explains Vincent.

Earlier this year, the fourth-generation family-owned company used social media to create a small-scale focus group of its fans, asking them for their opinions on the cheese and the concept. The feedback came back overwhelmingly positive on all counts, Vincent says.

The limited-edition cheese's debut coincided with Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Random-weight items and wheels of cheese are being shipped out with special in-store merchandising materials explaining the partnership.

"For us, it is great to have something to support breast cancer research," says Vincent. "It's not like we're going to raise $1 million on this, but it is great to give something back."

"The desire to do a product for breast cancer research came first. We have incredibly creative master cheesemakers, and we encourage them to play."

—Chad Vincent, Sartori Cheese