• by Patti Minglin , March 16, 2011

Highlighting breakfast as one of the most important meals of the day is not a new marketing-to-mom strategy, but Kellogg is taking this initiative one step further by making breakfast more than just a meal and turning it into a cause-marketing campaign that is resonating with families throughout the U.S.

Kellogg's "Share Your Breakfast" campaign invites consumers to share a photo or description of their breakfast. Each time a breakfast is "shared," Kellogg will donate money to increase school breakfast participation through Action for Healthy Kids with the goal of sharing one million breakfasts by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

Why does this campaign appear to resonate so well with moms? Here are some of the reasons "Share Your Breakfast" works and how your brand can create its own successful cause marketing campaign for mom consumers:

Be Relevant
Your cause should not only be relevant to moms, but also relevant to your brand. Kellogg tapped into the natural instinct most moms have to help other moms and their families with a solution that makes sense for its brand -- ending childhood hunger. Another example of being relevant is the Huggies "Every Little Bottom" campaign which, through the help of moms, has donated more than 22 million diapers to families in need.

Keep It Simple
Moms lead very busy lives so keep your message short and to the point, even if your cause is complex. "Thinking about how to tackle child hunger as an individual is a really hard place to go and can quickly feel overwhelming," says Cooper Munroe, co-founder of TheMotherhood.com, which was part of the "Share Your Breakfast" launch by hosting a virtual breakfast. "Kellogg has provided a powerful, immediate and simple way for just about anyone to make a tangible difference."

Get Kids Involved
Create a campaign that gives mom the opportunity to engage her kids with the cause. "It not only gets kids involved in giving back but is a great way for moms to start a conversation with their kids on how and why it is important," says Munroe. Procter & Gamble did this well with last year's "Thank You, Mom" campaign which invited consumers to "pledge to thank the mom who's made a difference" in their lives; in exchange, P&G donated $1 to Team USA for moms thanked at www.thankyoumom.com.

Make It "Shareable"
Make it easy for moms to participate by giving them multiple ways to connect, but also give them multiple ways to share your cause campaign with others. With so many moms involved through social networking platforms, it isn't surprising that social media goes a long way in getting moms to engage with your movement.

"For a program like 'Share Your Breakfast' that's all about ease-of-use, simplicity and sharing, social media is the way to go," says Trinh Le, senior brand manager at Kellogg. "We debuted the program in January at Blissdom and the response was overwhelmingly positive; the bloggers there really embraced the idea and began the social sharing." The campaign allows moms to get involved through online, mobile, Facebook, and Twitter (#ShareUrBreakfast). "In fact, on March 8 National Breakfast Day, every tweet with the #ShareUrBreakfast hashtag and breakfast description counted towards the goal," adds Le.

Cause campaigns, when done well, are truly a win-win-win situation for all -- brand, mom and cause. "Part of the 'Share Your Breakfast' success is that the process is simple, the cause is powerful and the end result is huge and tangible," adds Munroe.