My child is born to Rock, Dance, Cook, etc. but first he has to be born strong and healthy. This was the emotional premise behind non-profit March of Dimes imbornto® cause marketing campaign.

Having fulfilled its initial mandate – eradicating polio – March of Dimes’ mission today is to help women have full-term pregnancies, and babies be born strong and healthy. They do this by raising funds for community programs, advocacy, research and education, as well as supporting families with newborns in intensive care. But they needed more corporate partners to fund this mission.

We chose the period from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day – May to June – to execute the integrated campaign as it’s when families think about the hopes and dreams they have for their children.

We had the following objectives:

• Obtain five new corporate partners and drive campaign sales

• Increase year-over-year revenue

• Increase traffic to imbornto.com by 50%

• Increased intent to shop partners, intent to donate to March of Dimes

• Increase familiarity around March of Dimes purpose

Through a combination of paid, owned and earned brand and partner channels and a consistent brand look, feel and call to action, we exceeded all objectives:

• 8 new corporate partners

• Increased March of Dimes fundraising + 312%

• Nearly all partners had campaign sales +20% with one + 700%

• Site traffic increased +600%

• Consumers who saw the campaign were 3X more likely to shop our partners.

• Increased intent to shop partners (+10%), intent to donate to March of Dimes (+18%) and familiarity (+5%)

From Mother’s Day to Father’s Day we created a continuous flow of information across paid, owned and earned channels that encouraged parents to shop with our partners to drive funding for March of Dimes. Campaign featured:

• Retail/print/online initiatives executed by our partners - Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, The Bon-Ton Stores, Farmers Insurance, Kmart, Mud Pie, Bliss Carpets, ProFlowers, Famous Footwear, Oral B and First Response.

• March of Dimes digital, print, OOH advertising directing consumers to shop with partners in-store and online

• Earned and social media that used parents of premature babies and a celebrity to share inspirational stories. Our campaign included a satellite media tour and interviews with campaign ambassador families and Real Housewife Kyle Richards.

• A television PSA campaign that drove consumers to our web hub

• A web hub (www.imbornto.com) where parents could learn about the campaign, partner offers and make a donation

Impact

•8 new corporate partners

•Increased imbornto fundraising 312%

•Nearly all partners had campaign sales +20% with one + 700%

•Site traffic increased +600%

•Consumers who saw the campaign were 3X more likely to shop March of Dimes partners

•Increased intent to shop partners (+10%), intent to donate to March of Dimes (+18%) and familiarity (+5%)

Output

•Broadcast/print PSAs reached 460 million+ consumers

•Earned media garnered 470 million+ national, regional, print, broadcast and online impressions. Highlights: Huffington Post, Examiner.com, Shape, Life and Style Weekly, Today

•900 million+ impressions from ads in Martha Stewart Living, Weddings, Everyday Food and USA Today.