YELLOW BOX CHEERIOS: "CHEER BOX" Direct marketing by Cossette

Category: Fast Moving Consumer Goods
Advertiser: GENERAL MILLS CANADA
Product/Service: YELLOW BOX CHEERIOS
Agency: COSSETTE
Date of First Appearance: Sep 15 2009 12:00AM
Entrant Company: COSSETTE, Toronto, CANADA
Creative Director: Daniel Vendramin (Cossette Toronto)
Creative Director: David Daga (Cossette Toronto)
Art Director: Daniel Vendramin (Cossette Toronto)
Copywriter: David Daga (Cossette Toronto)
Vice President / National Account Leader: Janis Lindenbergs (Cossette Toronto)
Account Director: Mary Park (Cossette Toronto)
Vice President Marketing: Dale Storey (General Mills Canada)
Marketing Director - Cereals: Jason Doolan (General Mills Canada)
Media placement: Cereal Box - Grocery Stores (Nationally) - September 15 2009

Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.
We needed to find a meaningful role for Cheerios as a sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics beyond just a surface level association with the athletes or the event. We wanted Cheerios to play a role in supporting Canadian Olympians and inspire optimism in Canadian fans. The idea: don’t just talk about support, be supportive. And give every Canadian the opportunity to be supportive too. This would create a connection between Canadians, our athletes and the Cheerios brand.

Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.
Cheerios is a household staple in Canada. Families have grown up with it. It’s a brand familiar to all Canadians. It’s also a brand kids grow up with. The strength of the idea lies in the way we were able to tie a portion of our brand name and logo to a movement that would inspire optimism and promote encouragement. These are the Cheerios brand attributes that meshed so well with an event like the Olympics which shares many of the same attributes.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.
The first step was to alter the Cheerios box, creating a simple way for all Canadians to send words of encouragement to our athletes. If we could get Canadians inspired and involved to buy a box, cut out the Cheer, write their words of encouragement and mail it to the athletes in Vancouver, our campaign would be a success. A TV ad, online ads and a website supported the altered package to tell Canadians to get a box and send their Cheer.

Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.
The results were overwhelming. People got involved, athletes got inspired. Over 40,000 Cheer cards were mailed to Vancouver.