Strategic Objectives

Engaging Canadians to Make a Difference

The Cadbury Bicycle Factory

2010 IABC/Toronto Ovation Awards, Social Responsibility, Award of Excellence                

CPRS 2010 ACE Awards, Media Relations, Silver

Strategic Objectives co-founder Judy Lewis shares her insights about how the power of Public Relations effectively supports and drives participation in branded social responsibility programs.

Judy led our team on the multi-award-winning media relations program for The Cadbury Bicycle Factory: an innovative, integrated program that sent 5,000 life-changing bicycles to Ghana and generated positive news and social media awareness in Canada. 

Tell us about the program and the role of PR?

The Cadbury Bicycle Factory was an authentic promotion that engaged Canadians by giving them a simple way to support the cause of sending bicycles to children in Ghana, Africa.  For every Cadbury UPC code that was redeemed online at thebicyclefactory.ca, Cadbury donated a bicycle part to the cause.

For every 100 parts, a bicycle was built.  In the Fall of 2009, 5,000 bicycles were delivered to children in Ghana, Africa – to enable them to travel to and from school more easily and also transport water and other essentials.

It was our honour to be a part of Cadbury’s integrated marketing team, which included The Hive, to help spread the news about Cadbury’s caring and visionary program.  Our strategy was to highlight the positive change that could be inspired by a bicycle.  The media and blogger relations program was designed to leverage the effectiveness of PR in educating and building awareness, while enhancing credibility and trust.

Authenticity was critical to the success of the PR. We brought a spokesperson from Africa, Michael Linke, on-the-ground activist and founder of the Bicycling Empowerment Network, to Toronto.  Michael spoke at the media launch event and conducted a series of media and blogger interviews, sharing his first-hand stories about how bicycles are changing lives and advancing communities.  Members of the Canadian-Ghanian community attended the launch event to show their support for the The Cadbury Bicycle Factory.

The PR propelled the powerful message that by making a small purchase such as gum or chocolate and participating in The Cadbury Bicycle Factory, you could help give the gift of freedom and mobility to school-age children who previously had to walk miles and miles to get to school. Our media relations activities highlighted that Canadians could help make the world a better place, one bicycle at a time. This encouraged participation and engagement.

Was the media skeptical?

Not at all. Media and bloggers celebrated and congratulated Cadbury on its meaningful program and were very proactive in encouraging consumers to participate.  At the media launch event, guests were given the opportunity to be among the first to show their support by logging on to thebicyclefactory.ca, contributing a bike part and helping to make a difference.

Katherine Dorrell of Canadian Living Magazine joined the Cadbury team to be on-site in Ghana to witness the delivery of the bikes. Her memorable experience was documented in a full colour feature article in the May, 2010 issue of the magazine.

Why was the PR so engaging?

The social responsibility PR message was focused and authentic. Make it simple. Make it powerful.

What do you think made this media relations program an award winner?

Results. We achieved outstanding awareness levels, excellent media and blogger involvement and our strategic PR approach made a meaningful contribution to the overall program.

Tips for PR success:

•  Integrate personal, emotional storytelling in all PR materials.
•  Issue a simple, clear call-to-action that outlines how easy it is to help.
•  Use PR to help promote online sharing of a video. The Cadbury Bicycle Factory benefitted from positive social media exposure through networking sites, Twitter, blogs and more.
•  Make the media launch event for a social responsibility oriented program memorable and engaging, while linking the need/cause to the promotion, products and brand.

Strategic Objectives PR co-founder Judy Lewis is an award-winning strategist and celebrated international branding expert and speaker.  Judy will lead a panel of marketing and PR experts at the IABC 2010 World Conference, June 6-9, 2010 in Toronto.  Learn more about her session — It’s A Brand New Day — at www.iabc.com/wc.