• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 14, 2009

Sara Lee Deli is jumping into social media by reaching out to moms via humorous videos posted on its new Facebook fan page (facebook.com/saraleedeli) and other social media venues.

The brand worked with Second City Communications, the business services arm of Second City Theater, to produce "confessional" webcam videos showing "Mama Sagas" from the daily lives of three mom-actresses. Examples include preparing a husband to take care of the kids while mom's away, and letting the kids in on what mom does after they go to bed.

Each video incorporates a mention of Sara Lee Fresh Ideas pre-sliced deli meats, focusing on the product's taste and convenience, particularly for lunches. (Amid her long, explicit list of instructions, traveling mom tells her husband she's left a selection of the meats for him to use to make lunches for himself and the kids.) At their conclusion, the videos ask viewers to post responses as to how they would handle that Mama Saga.

The goal is to use the videos to start conversations and an online community that will heighten awareness of the Sara Lee Fresh Ideas brand and enable ongoing dialogue with moms, including product feedback, summed up senior brand manager Paula Shikany.

To drive traffic, in addition to sponsored links on Facebook, the brand is tweeting to moms through the @SaraLeeDeli Twitter handle, with a coupon offer that applies to tweeting moms who become fans on the Sara Lee Deli Facebook page. The tweeting began about a month ago and is ongoing, according to a brand spokesperson. The Facebook page includes recipes, tips and product information to help moms streamline the lunch-making process, as well as savings offers.

In addition, a branded channel featuring the videos and the Mama Saga theme has been established on Metacafe (metacafe.com/saraleedeli), as well as sites including YouTube, Break.com, Dailymotion, Yahoo Video, VideoEgg, Pandora TV and AOL Video.

Finally, the brand is reaching out to individual mom bloggers and mom blogger networks, inviting them to post the videos for viewing and discussion.

Many of Sara Lee's products and brands are already active in social media, but this is the deli division's first foray into these channels.