For more than three decades, the Care Bears brand has focused on sharing and caring; love and friendship. In early 2015, American Greetings Entertainment saw an opportunity to make the most of the core values with a philanthropic brand promotion with the objective of building brand awareness, engaging with Care Bears fans and encouraging people around the world to pay it forward. They turned to their agency of record, GennComm to lead the #ShareYourCare effort with a strategic plan that it executed from June 2015 to December 2016 with continued efforts on the movement beyond.
Strategy: Start an ongoing movement to inspire fans to pay it forward with acts big and small, further build brand awareness, and speak to new fans for Care Bears and engage fans everywhere they interact with the Care Bears brand.
Tactics:
With little to no money, GennComm unveiled the #ShareYourCare campaign with an Online Video Contest in June 2015 marketed via social media and via a Bauer Magazine gift card promotion, blogger network Macaroni Kid and dozens of additional bloggers. Fans were invited to show Care Bears how they Share, Care, Love or Help those around them. The contest was the start of the movement that had a lasting effect on fans; the grand prize winner donated 100% of monetary winnings to Nepal Earthquake Relief ($1.5K.)
In July 2015, the Care Bears played host at an opening breakfast at Blogger Bash 2015, where nearly 300 digital influencers took the Care Bears #ShareYourCare oath to become official Care Bears #ShareYourCare Ambassadors, promising to make the world a better place and spread the message of sharing and caring to their readers on an ongoing basis. The brunch also included an announcement of a donation of 400 Care Bears plush to a charity, ZachKapCares, run by 10-year-old Zach Kaplan. The activity resulted in #ShareYourCare being a Top 10 Trending Topic on Twitter.
GennComm established an official holiday through National Day Calendar on September 9th, 2015 known as "National Care Bears #ShareYourCare Day." On this special day, GennComm activated its arsenal of Good Samaritans/Care Bears Ambassadors to spread the message about #ShareYourCare Day to the masses and was able to motivate fans online through social media and website messaging, and another highly successful day on Twitter.
To further support the day, GennComm created an event that allowed Care Bears via ZachKapCares to donate the plush to Leake & Watts with an event at a Head Start Facility for underserved children in the Bronx where they donated the 400 Care Bears plush and received an official Proclamation from Deputy Bronx Borough President Aurelia Greene .
#ShareYourCare Campaign Estimation Impressions:
Video Contest:
Blogger Bash/"Army of Do-Gooder Ambassadors"
National Day Holiday "National Care Bears #ShareYourCare Day" - September 9, 2016
