• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 9, 2008

Children's products maker Graco is employing multiple channels to support the official launch of an ambitious social media site for parents--including a club, brand ambassador program, sweepstakes and online and print advertising campaign.

The brand's "Ready for the Road Ahead" campaign supports a new site of the same name that features parents blogging on topics of interest to fellow new and expectant parents, a car seat selection tool, videos (including one demonstrating proper car-seat installation), and tips for traveling with children from experts and parents.

Parents who join the "Ready. Safe. Go! Car Club" residing on the site will have access to special offers from partner companies, including baby.com, Johnson's, Gerber foods and children's wear, and FamilyFun and Wondertime magazines. Membership is being driven with a social responsibility initiative supported by a PR campaign. For every 10 parents who join between now and Dec. 31, Graco will donate one car seat to organizations serving families in need--up to $100,000's worth, per suggested retail prices.

In the retail channel, the brand partnered with Babies 'R' Us to co-market a sweepstakes dangling a Dodge Grand Caravan grand prize last month, to tie in with September's designation as National Baby Safety Month. Babies 'R' Us promoted the sweeps in its catalog, online and in-store.

An additional component, the Graco Nation Ambassador Program, will invite fans to champion Graco by sharing their experiences with the brand and parenting stories. Graco hopes the program will serve as a launch pad for a larger platform for connecting with parents, according to social media marketing manager Lindsay Lebresco.

Banner ads on selected parent sites such as StorkNet.com and Baby-Parenting.com, as well as lifestyle-oriented sites such as Health.Discovery.com and MomsWhoThink.com, will help drive traffic to www.ReadyfortheRoadAhead.com, as will print ads in the two partner magazines.

"Graco was an early adopter of social media, and to date, our learning curve has been very positive," confirms Lebresco. "We see it as a multi-dimensional tool that can play various roles in our integrated efforts to connect, educate and promote our products to our target audience up front, as well as build an ongoing dialogue once they've purchased. That dialogue will allow us to learn from and mobilize their advocacy to help others become acquainted with our brands/products."