Campaign

#TBT Social Media Case Study: 77kids Do Good Day

August 17, 2015 by The Motherhood

Photo credit: Stacy, Stacy Uncorked

Hard to believe it’s been five years since The Motherhood created and led Do Good Day, a nationwide retail launch for the 77kids clothing line, and a new, big idea at the time. Imagine the incredible momentum and magic of 77 of the country’s top online influencers leading their communities to do helpful, kind, neighborly acts in celebration of the 77kids launch. The program makes us proud and we wanted to share it with you as a social media case study for #TBT!

It was the summer of 2010, on a limited budget, and with seven launches planned across the country, the company asked us to build buzz about 77kids nationwide in a fun, memorable way, keeping the importance of local communities front and center. To do that, we hired 77 mom bloggers – seven people in 11 different markets, clustered around the seven launch locations where 77kids would be opening. These moms were challenged to find ways to do good in their community in the name of 77kids.

Each group of influencers received a 77kids Do Good Day kit filled with items including 77kids-branded thank you cards and collateral, Silly Bandz and dollar bills, all meant to be distributed to unsuspecting locals to brighten their day. We also encouraged participants to find a location that would help them and their kids do good and share the 77kids message of helping local communities.

The influencers, and their families and friends, came up with a wide range of ideas for executing Do Good Day and shared on social platforms through the entire process. From creating thank-you cards for soldiers serving overseas as part of Operation Gratitude, to cooking lunch for families staying at the local Ronald McDonald House, to giving flowers to people passing on the sidewalk, these do-gooders in cities across the country helped others feel good about themselves – and the 77kids brand.

The program drew the attention of local media, Do Good Day signs appeared on the Today Show set, and the participating moms blogged and cross-posted their content on their social media platforms. By the time the campaign ended, Do Good Day had garnered more than 110 blog posts, 3,000 tweets and more than 10 million overall impressions for the 77kids brand. In the years since we’ve been surprised at conferences on a few occassions when Do Good Day is highlighted by speakers as a social media marketing innovation case study!

Dr Pepper Snapple Let’s Play: Bringing Playgrounds to Communities

July 16, 2015 by The Motherhood

Let’s Play Build Day in Camden. Photo credit: Kristin Wilkinson, Keenly Kristin

With the invention of computers, video games and smartphones, the world has become a different place. The lure of screen time has changed the way kids play and decreased the amount of physical activity in their daily routines. Research shows that rather than playing outside, kids spend an average of seven hours each day on “entertainment media” (such as TV, computers and phones).

A Solution: Dr Pepper Snapple Let’s Play

The Motherhood is proud to be working with Dr Pepper Snapple Group on its Let’s Play initiative to provide kids and families with the tools, places and inspiration to make active play a daily priority. Most recently, we’ve worked with bloggers to help publicize the program and build playgrounds in underserved communities in Camden, N.J., and Dallas, Texas.

Building Playgrounds

At Let’s Play Build Day in Camden on June 25, Kristin of Keenly Kristin was on hand to witness the excitement and positive energy of the Camden Children’s Garden construction zone. In a blog post she wrote afterward, she noted it would be the only playground in the city of Camden:

“No playground in Camden. Nowhere for kids to go, nowhere for them to engage in the most basic of childhood activities — play. KaBOOM! and Dr Pepper Snapple Group wanted to change that for the community, but especially for the kids. It would mean a lot, Gladis Zambrana said. ‘It means ‘the community’…it means the community cares. It means you’re wanted. It means ‘it’s mine.’ That’s what this means.'”

Kristin shared updates on the playground build in real time via social media that day, too:

In Dallas, Jamie of Roubinek Reality did the same at La Academia de Estrellas. She reported in her blog post about Build Day, “Many of the students’ families at La Academia de Estrellas are of low socio-economic status, but they are an active and collaborative bunch who pull together to bring their children unique opportunities that provide a holistic education. That was proven in the sheer number of volunteers they had to help with the playground build day. Volunteers came from all over, including Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Walmart, school employees, and the surrounding community.”

Dallas playground before and after — La Academia de Estrellas Playground Build Day – before and after. Photo credits: Jamie Roubinek of Roubinek Reality.

Maintaining Momentum

The Motherhood will be working with bloggers in Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Little Rock, Ark., to build playgrounds in those areas through the rest of the year. Keep an eye out for blog and social media posts around this important Let’s Play initiative from Maureen of Wisconsin Mommy, Yolanda of Sassy Mama in LA and Heather of Heather’s Dish to follow the campaign and learn more.

July’s Twitter Parties

July 13, 2015 by The Motherhood

We hope you’re enjoying your summer so far! Check out the details below for exciting Twitter parties you can add to your fun summer activities this month!

#SummerIsSocial

Tuesday, July 14 at 2 p.m.

Summer means it’s time for potlucks, pool parties and BBQs! It’s finally time to get outside with family and friends to share experiences, and of course, delicious meals together.

HelloFresh is a meal delivery service that delivers great chef- and nutritionist-designed recipes and fresh, pre-measured ingredients to your doorstep each week. Each of the meals is ready in about 30 minutes, so they’re perfect for weeknights and hectic summer schedules.

HelloFresh’s seasonal menus reflect the social nature of summer with ingredients that can be thrown on the grill, doubled to feed a potluck crowd, eaten with your fingers or easily held in your hands so you can spend more time catching up with friends and less time doing dishes.

Join this hour-long #SummerIsSocial Twitter party, where we’ll chat about getting social with great food, family and friends! We can’t wait to hear your favorite outdoor dining, grilling and cooking tips!

We’ll be giving away five prizes to randomly selected individuals who answer questions tweeted from @TMCHatHost correctly. Each prize includes a free week of HelloFresh deliveries (valued between $59 and $129, depending on box type and size). Prizes limited to U.S. participants only.

#TheStorkOTC

Thursday, July 16 at 1 p.m. ET

This month marks our third installment of #TheStorkOTC twitter chat series! Join us as we discuss how The Stork OTC is an affordable, at-home conception device that could assist LGBT couples in starting a family. During this 30-minute chat, you’ll also have a chance to win one of three $25 gift cards by answering some trivia questions.

For more information on The Stork OTC, please visit their website. This content is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician.

Keepsake Gift Idea: T-shirt Blanket from Project Repat

June 25, 2015 by The Motherhood

For the past six months, I’ve been eyeing my drawer full of old college t-shirts and considering whether it might be time to part with them. They’ve served me for years, mostly as pajamas or workout gear, and age has taken its toll.

But recently, Project Repat, a service that upcycles old t-shirts (or jerseys, sweatshirts and more) into keepsake blankets, approached The Motherhood about collaborating on a blog campaign – and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to give my shirts new life.

I collected all the t-shirts I’ve had lying around my house for years, and I asked my parents to send me the shirts from high school that I’d never been able to part with. The oldest dates to 1999, and the newest joined my t-shirt collection just last year. My search yielded 19 total t-shirts.

At Project Repat, a lap blanket consists of 16 total panels for your t-shirt graphics (at a price of just $74.99), and a twin size blanket is 24 panels for $109.99, with increasing numbers of panels in additional full, queen and king sizes. My 19 t-shirts included 14 with graphics just on the front and five with graphics on both the front and back, which allowed for 24 total panels – so I opted for the twin size. For a nominal additional fee, I also decided to request 14×14 inch squares instead of the standard 12×12 inches, since several of my shirts featured large graphics.

Before sending in my shirts, I read the instructions provided by Project Repat on how to prepare them, cutting the ones with graphics on both sides apart along the seams. I also laid out a pattern for the blanket, took a picture and added the photo to the box of t-shirts I mailed in. (This step is optional – if you don’t provide a photo, Project Repat will create a pattern for you.)

Here is the blanket that was returned to me just a few weeks later, 24 t-shirt panels (with the bottom left corner folded up to show the black fleece backing). For size reference, this is a twin blanket with 14×14 inch panels laid out on a king bed:

This blanket represents many phases of my life, from my high school tennis team to college events, career initiatives and beyond – and I will treasure it forever. Creating a t-shirt blanket is a beautiful way to preserve memories, and it makes a great gift for a high school or college graduate in particular as they move into the next phase of their lives.

Project Repat offers the most affordable prices in the business for creating t-shirt keepsake blankets. Many of these services cost several hundred dollars, while Project Repat blankets begin at just $74.99. It is a great value and well worth it!

Top photo and “How It Works” graphic credit: ProjectRepat.com

LISTERINE Client Spotlight: 5 Tips for a Great Summer

June 18, 2015 by The Motherhood

Enjoying summertime while wrangling the kids and ensuring the whole family is totally taken care of can be a real balancing act.

For an ongoing campaign with LISTERINE®, we invited a talented group of mom bloggers to share their advice on keeping their families totally taken care of, from teeth to toes, all summer long. We compiled five top tips for a great summer to help you enjoy the season:

1) Be Prepared. Mellisa of Mom Luck advises, “Pack a small bag with all your summer essentials, such as sunscreen, snacks, bottled water, BAND-AIDs for boo-boos and a bottle of LISTERINE® TOTAL CARE to help keep your mouth clean and refreshed.”

2) Remember Good Oral Hygiene. Notes Sara of Saving for Someday, “Don’t forget that good oral hygiene is especially important in the summer when the kids are snacking and maybe heading off to bed with a different routine. Walgreens has you totally taken care of on this with a range of wellness products.”

3) Protect Your Skin. As Felicita of Casa Moncada points out, “It’s fun to be outside in the pool, going to the beach, or doing any other outdoor activity but we must take care of our skin. Using sunscreen is essential when going outside even if it’s just for a little while… Be sure to re-apply every few hours and more if you are in the water.”

4) Maintain a Routine. With no school and many hours of daylight, “it can often be easy to let kids slide into later and later bedtimes,” Xenia of Thanks, Mail Carrier, says. Often, the result is “the following day ends up being stressful and exhausting for everyone. Instead, sticking to a consistent schedule (at least for the majority of the summer) and a regular daily and weekly routine can lead to a smoother, happier time for the entire family.”

5) Have Fun! The most important thing to remember this summer is to “enjoy yourself and really embrace life, and while you do it, make sure you are not letting your well-being slip,” advises Ellen of That Chic Mom.

To learn more about keeping your family totally taken care of all summer long, and to share your own tips, tricks and wellness ideas, join a #LISTERINEMom Twitter party – we’ll be sharing the date, time and details soon. Hope to see you there!

Tell the Makers of MOTRIN How You Make it Happen & Win!

May 19, 2015 by The Motherhood

We have received information, product and materials from McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc., the makers of MOTRIN®. The opinions stated are our own. This is a sponsored post.

Moms, we know you’re unstoppable, and we know part of the way you stay unstoppable throughout the week is by making it happen on the weekends. Whether it’s things at home, keeping up with your own fitness routine or managing the family, you do it all week long and then continue to tackle things throughout the weekend. Moms everywhere find ways to fit it all in, and the makers of MOTRIN surveyed some of them to see how they’re making it happen at home. You can check out the results on this MOTRIN infographic.

We want you to share all of your great tips for making it happen at this week’s Twitter party on May 20 from 2-3 PM ET. Celebrity trainer Ashley Borden will be joining us for this discussion, and she will be sharing great tips on how you can take care of yourself while also taking care of all the other moving pieces in your life!

You can RSVP here for the Twitter party.

To help you feel better before and after any physically demanding project, consider some of Ashley’s tips* for adding stretches and toning moves to your daily routine. You’ll feel looser, leaner and ready to “Make It Happen.”

The “I’m cleaning under the couch on my hands and knees” back stretch: You know that great stretch when you arch and round your spine to really stretch those back muscles? Multi-task and peek under the couch for that missing remote while you’re at it. Alternate arching and rounding your spine, five times each way.
The “I’ve been avoiding it, but it’s finally time to tackle the yard work” shoulder stretch: While standing tall, interlace your hands behind your back. Try to reach down toward the floor and straighten your arms as much as you can. Raise your chest high and keep your eyes on the horizon. You will feel a big shoulder harness stretch around the both shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds.
The “I will paint this room by myself in one afternoon” triceps stretch: Start by putting your arms up over your head and bend your right arm so that your forearm hangs down. With your left hand grab your right elbow and pull it toward your head. Lean to the left to really open up your rib cage. Hold the stretch for a few seconds, then switch sides and repeat with opposite arm. Do three rounds on each side. Then grab that paint roller and get moving!
The “I can look for dust bunnies while I strengthen my core” plank: Lying face-down on the floor, get into the plank position, supporting your body with your forearms and the tips of your toes, keeping your back and legs fully extended and straight. Hold this position for 30 seconds while you scan the floor for dust bunnies. Do five sets.
The “I can pick up the toys while toning my legs and tush” squat: Survey that playroom floor and see what needs tidying. Stand with knees shoulder-width apart and drop into a squat. Be mindful of your position and ensure your knees don’t extend past your toes. At the bottom of the squat, pick something up and put it where it belongs. Repeat until the playroom is clean.

The MOTRIN brand is inviting all of you unstoppable women to join in and celebrate Monday as a day of triumph by sharing how you “Make It Happen” over the weekend! You can share how you “Make It Happen” on the weekends when it comes to home, fitness, fashion and family by visiting the MOTRIN Facebook page on Mondays for a chance to win a one-on-one session with actress Jennie Garth in L.A. to discuss her DIY tips and tricks, plus other great prizes.**

*Remember to talk to your doctor before starting or changing any exercise routine and always use product as directed.

**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 21 years or older. Enter Contest on 5/11/15. For Official Rules, including prize descriptions, visit http://bit.ly/MotrinMIHRules. Void where prohibited