Kraft Asks Consumers to Step Up and Volunteer

Incentive: Strategy

Kraft Asks Consumers to Step Up and Volunteer
October 15, 2009

By Stacy Straczynski

Kraft Foods employees made a difference, and now it’s your turn. The company has launched a global volunteerism effort, with thousands of its employees donating time to community service, and has posted a YouTube video asking viewers to do their part as well.

The four-minute YouTube video, featuring employees from the Glenview, IL–based food giant, details Kraft’s “Make a Delicious Difference Week,” in which over 12,000 of its employees volunteered in their local communities from Oct. 5-10 in their local communities.

Beyond promoting Kraft’s own socially responsible efforts, the video calls on viewers to make their own “delicious difference” and share the video with others. Kraft promises that with each view until Oct. 31 it will donate enough money to the Feeding America charity to pay for five meals (at the time of this writing it had been viewed 6,781 times).

"In these challenging times, it's increasingly important that Corporate America step up to make a difference," says Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America. "With its focus on fighting hunger and encouraging healthy lifestyles, Kraft Foods has long supported us and our member food banks. This employee-created video builds on this support by enabling consumers to pitch in by simply viewing the online video. With a simple click of a mouse, Kraft Foods is both encouraging others to volunteer and providing much-needed food to those at risk of hunger."

Companies promoting volunteerism to engage consumers and increase brand awareness is nothing new. This past January, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes ran a Super Bowl ad promoting its work renovating local football fields. Starbucks Coffee encouraged volunteerism by rewarding consumers with a free coffee if they pledged five hours of community service.

This sort of social responsibility, especially on the local level, can lead to significant gains in consumer engagement, according to Jonathan Greenblatt, a member of faculty at Anderson School of Management at UCLA Business School, and president of All For Good, an open-source site for service and volunteerism.

“[Consumers] reward those firms that demonstrate those behaviors,” says Greenblatt. “Companies that are effective stewards and participants in their community see lots of dividends well beyond just the day-of event. I think it builds long-term brand value and enterprise value.”

Considering the stressful economic times, Greenblatt sees many companies using volunteer campaigns to boost worker attitudes about their employers. “[Volunteerism] certainly improves morale, which can boost retention with companies and just bring more meaning to the workplace than might otherwise be there—especially when people are feeling insecure because of market volatility and earnings being down,” Greenblatt explains. “Those kinds of activities can remind employees why they work at a company beyond just a paycheck.”

This was reflected in comments from Kraft Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, who packed food at the Community FoodBank of New Jersey for “Delicious Difference.”

"I'm humbled and inspired by the flood of support from our employees around the globe,” Rosenfeld says. “They pour their hearts into everything they do—whether it's making delicious foods or a delicious difference in their communities.”

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