Sara Lee Deli Highlights Life’s Imperfect Moments

Sara Lee Deli’s “Life’s Not Perfect … But Your Deli Meat Can Be,” social media campaign aims to connect with women by humorously depicting life’s imperfections in a new video series, while providing pre-sliced and sliced-to-order deli meat solutions through Facebook.

“In life, planned perfect moments rarely turn out so perfect,” noted Don Baker, director, Sara Lee Deli at Sara Lee Corp. in Downers Grove, Ill. “Through this campaign, by capturing some of life’s milestones and moments — like the first day of school — then ending with a humorous twist, we can better connect with our audience. It lets Sara Lee Deli talk about its products, drive consumers to their location in the grocers’ deli and communicate the high quality of our meats.”

The campaign includes a third series of videos created with Second City Communications, the business services arm of Chicago-based Second City Theater, which features moments from three busy women’s lives with unexpected outcomes. The videos are being released and promoted over six weeks via Social Theater, a dynamic brand engagement platform within Facebook, as well as on the Sara Lee Deli Facebook page.

Further, as part of the “Life’s Not Perfect” campaign, Harris Interactive conducted an online survey among more than 2,000 U.S. adults, half of whom were female, for Sara Lee Deli. The survey’s goal was find out women’s problems in creating perfect meals and sandwiches. Just 55 percent of American women would eat a meal they created for a special occasion if it didn’t come out the way they expected. In response, Sara Lee Deli developed sandwich-perfecting tips and recipes with Sara Lee chef Catherine DeOrio, which are available on the brand’s Facebook page, to help solve such struggles.

Additional survey findings include:

• Sixty percent of U.S. women who ever make deli sandwiches at home have difficulty with some aspect of making the perfect sandwich
• Thirty-five percent of U.S. women who ever make deli sandwiches at home have trouble thinking up more creative deli sandwiches when making a sandwich at home
• Ninety-five percent of U.S. women spend at least one hour preparing the perfect meal for family and friends

“Life’s Not Perfect” is an extension of the 2009 “Mama Saga Moments” and 2010 “Saga Solver Experts and Lunchtime Challenge” programs, all of which were designed to raise awareness of the brand’s pre-sliced lineup, offering solutions while building a strong connection with moms via Facebook and other social media outlets. Sara Lee Deli currently has more than 85,000 Facebook fans.

This is the first year the brand is promoting both its pre-sliced and sliced-to-order varieties, focusing on the entire portfolio as a premium go-to solution. The “Life’s Not Perfect” campaign supports the brand’s larger creative initiative, “Meat Brought To Perfection,” which focuses on quality and product location of its meats.