• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, April 14, 2010

Kraft Singles and media partner Disney ABC Television Group are wrapping up a "Single Best Town in America" contest. 

The contest is the first in a series of initiatives for 2010 that seek to build on the brand's "The American Cheese" television advertising campaign, launched last September. That campaign portrays the roles that the cheese brand plays as depicted amid various scenes from American life, positioning Kraft Singles as "the quintessential, one and only American cheese," sums up senior brand manager Clayton Wai-Poi. (Sample TV ad copy: "This is America, and this is our cheese.")

The campaign "started to deliver good results almost immediately," according to Wai-Poi, who adds that one goal for 2010 is to go beyond television and print ads, to engage consumers in the brand theme via additional platforms.

"The advertising celebrates some of the 'single' best things about America, and since Americans are proud of their towns, we identified asking them to vote for the 'single best' town as a great opportunity," Wai-Poi says.

The partnership with Disney ABC has built awareness of the contest/ cheese brand via the media company's varied platforms. In addition to FamilyFun magazine and a microsite on that brand's Web site (which serves as the contest's hub), the exposure includes tie-ins with ABC Daytime and SOAPnet soap opera properties and hot country music trio Love and Theft (who are on the Disney Music Group's Lyric Street Records label).

Those tie-ins were ideal, since Kraft Singles fans are also big soap opera and country music fans, reports Margee Hocking, VP, director of development and production at Kraft Singles partner MediaVest USA.

Television spots highlighted the contest and the members of Love and Theft -- three young guys who each hail from small towns -- and the band's appearances at "mini events" (like Kraft Singles Cook-Offs) were captured in videos subsequently featured on YouTube and syndicated content channels, says Hocking. Digital exposure included the band's Facebook fan page and various social media platforms under both the Disney and Kraft umbrellas.

The contest drew more than 400 "best towns" entries and more than 20,000 consumer votes on the 10 finalists, according to Kraft. The winning town -- just announced -- is Three Lakes, Wis.

The brand will also leverage the contest by throwing a block party in Three Lakes this summer, featuring Love and Theft (whose upcoming nationwide tour with Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum will add further synergy). The party will also feature an appearance by the ABC Daytime/SOAPnet Soap Nation Tour, including five soap stars. Partygoers will be served "American-inspired fare with Kraft Singles."

This year's roster of Kraft Singles promotions also includes a just-launching second annual partnership with Minor League Baseball. Families that bring a Singles package wrapper to Tuesday-night games held at participating ballparks nationwide (now through Sept. 7) can buy one ticket and get one free, courtesy of the cheese brand.