Country Crock Plant Butter Helps Bakeries Deliver 1,000 Cakes for Quarantine Birthdays
#HomeboundBirthday supports small businesses and consumers unable to hold traditional celebrations
While the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many brands to pause or pivot their campaigns since March, Country Crock Plant Butter found an opportunity to execute a social good campaign to support struggling small businesses and consumers.
The dairy-free butter, which the Upfield-owned company debuted in 2019, teamed with agency BCW Global for #HomeboundBirthday, a social campaign that tapped 10 local bakeries across the U.S. to deliver birthday cakes to quarantined consumers.
The digital and social campaign, which ran from April through June, covered the cost for bakeries to make and deliver more than 1,000 cakes. Jessica Bernheim, brand manager at Country Crock Plant Butter, said the campaign was designed to bring joy to customers forced to spend their birthdays in lockdown and financially support local bakeries that lost business due to Covid-19.
“We saw small businesses like bakeries struggling, which really hit home for us because we’re bakers as well,” Bernheim said. “As a brand focused on spreading joy, we believed this was a perfect opportunity for us to live out our values, deliver cakes to people celebrating homebound birthdays this spring, and support small independent bakeries that make our cities so vibrant and special.”
It took around three weeks to conceptualize and launch the campaign, according to Bernheim, with teams scouting bakeries in the cities hardest hit by the pandemic at the time, those that specialized in treats for special occasions, and through nominations from social media followers.
The brand chose bakeries including The Royal Cakery in New Orleans, Princess Confections in Indianapolis, Sugartopia in Cornelia, Ga., and Who Doesn’t Like Cake in Birmingham, Ala.
“It was important to find independent businesses that have strong footholds in their communities and are independently run,” Bernheim added. “Some of the bakeries we partnered with have been around for decades; others are new, but they are all important community stakeholders.”
Consumers could order cakes by directly calling the bakeries or ordering via direct message on Instagram. Bernheim said recipients ranged from those celebrating their 10th birthday to their 80th, adding that everyone who ordered was encouraged to post with the campaign hashtag, but it wasn’t required.
According to the brand, the campaign drew more than 9,500 engagements across brand, bakery and consumer posts. In executing the campaign, Bernheim said she and her team learned the importance of acting quickly, and with purpose.
“This program was born from a purpose-driven mindset. We asked ourselves: How can we make a small difference for others during such a difficult time?” she said. “It was that purpose-driven mindset that was important for us during the pandemic, and it’s an attitude we’ll carry with us after the pandemic.”
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