• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 13, 2010

Following two well-received mom-oriented video series, Sara Lee Deli's latest Facebook community builder is a contest focused on getting moms to share their school lunch-related challenges.

"What's Your Lunchtime Challenge?" asks moms to submit a short essay and a photo of their children that together capture the essence of the challenge, by Oct. 3. The 25 finalists will be chosen by popular voting through the brand's Facebook presence (Oct. 4-13), and the judged winner will be announced on Nov. 3, National Sandwich Day.

The winner will receive a home visit from celebrity chef and fellow mom Alex Guarnaschelli, who will take her shopping and teach her new approaches to the lunch meal, as well as share tips with 10 of the winner's friends. The prize also includes a year's supply of Sara Lee Deli meats. <> Guarnaschelli will also offer lunch tips and recipes on the Facebook page, adding to the existing sharing among the brand's followers.

"Especially at back-to-school time, helping moms with ideas for lunches that their kids will actually like and eat was a natural next extension" of Sara Lee Deli's social networking campaign, which aims to help moms simplify their lives, says the brand's director of marketing, Paula Shikany.

The efforts began last September, with humorous, confessional "Mama Saga" videos in which Second City actresses/moms shared anecdotes from their lives, working in mentions of the life-simplifying benefits of Sara Lee lunch meats. Early this year, these were followed by "Saga Solver" videos, featuring more direct problem-solving approaches from the actresses and experts like food-show host Ceci Carmichael, which were aired over 18 weeks.

Sara Lee Deli, which also uses a Twitter presence to build the community, has logged about 4 million video views, and now boasts nearly 72,000 Facebook fans, reports Shikany.