Caffeine bubble dreams

In November Roots Canada got involved in the Right to Play campaign, changing the lives of children in disadvantaged regions in the world through the power of sport and play. The official press release outlined this would be a partnership of Roots Canada, Mastercard and Right to Play.

Proceeds from the Canada Collection by Roots would go to Right to Play programs; donations were also accepted. This campaign was made most memorable by the television spots such as the following:

This commercial was very much overtaken by Mastercard, with its classic "priceless" format. Roots' involvement was briefly mentioned, although it has an entire collection dedicated to raise money for this cause. Since commercials did not scream Roots, I decided to look into other social media outlets to discover how Roots promoted its involvement in this campaign.

And then there was Twitter. Looking since Nov. 4, @RootsCanada has posted or retweeted 13 tweets mentioning the Right to Play campaign. That's 13 tweets in nearly five months. Amongst the 13 tweets, there were product suggestions, photos of favourite products, calls for donations, and photographs of Canadian collection-clad celebrities.

Roots Canada has a Facebook page with 12,912 fans; significantly more than the 2,499 followers it has on Twitter. The Facebook page is interactive with pictures, polls, and promotions. The Facebook fan page had 22 mentions by Roots Canada about the Right to Play campaign, and it was more than mentions. The posts included photos of the Canada Collection, celebrities wearing the clothing, links to the commercials, and most importantly information about the Right to Play foundation. Overall, I think Facebook was better utilized in this campaign than Twitter. Especially for the type of campaign it was, Facebook was better because it was visually dynamic. Viewers did not need to click elsewhere to be directed to videos and images.


Threat: Roots and the Right to Play campaign is in competition with every other company raising money for every other charity. It needs to step up communication on every platform to make sure people get the message. Roots is not alone in trying to make a difference in the world, and we need to know more about what makes this campaign special.

Weakness: This campaign is not cohesive over all platforms. The Roots website is the best source of information about Right to Play and the Canada Collection. Facebook is second, followed by Twitter, then by YouTube. In order to get a full picture of this campaign, you'd have to use all these channels equally to maximize viewership. The platforms are skewed in the sense, that one platform gives significantly more information than another.

Having said all this, I think Roots is a wonderful company involved in many positive initiatives including community involvement and environmental sustainability. I feel with the Right to Play campaign, Roots has been overshadowed by Mastercard, which seems to be a bigger sponsor of this campaign. But Roots is supplying the product that donates money to the foundation, therefore, I believe it should be more visible to the public.

For different takes on the Roots' Right to Play campaign, please see my colleagues Jenna's and Ali's blogs.

UPDATE: April 29, 2010
The Roll up the Rim campaign is *rolling* to a close and according to my RimRoller app, my final win/loss ration was 2-7. There were definitely more 'Try Again' cups which I didn't record, so really it's probably closer to 2-15. It was a worthwhile experiment, I think. And by the way, I won two donuts. I'm curious to see whether anyone won any of the big prizes. Please comment!

March marks the return of the Roll up the Rim to Win campaign at Tim Hortons. For me, this marks the opportunity to follow my large triple triple with an opportunity to win.

In conjunction with the iPhone, rolling up the rim becomes an online social interaction with fellow coffee drinkers. I downloaded an application to my iPhone called RimRoller by ReCat Film.


With this app, after I finish my coffee and roll up my rim, I can post whether I won or whether my cup said 'Try again' to Twitter. It's a neat way to track your wins vs losses ratios and also track other people's wins.

What I find interesting with this app is the PR implications and how it can motivate or discourage the masses to participate in Tim Hortons' campaign. Primarily, this app is not sponsored or affiliated with Tim Hortons, but works as exposure of its campaign. It also connects Tim Hortons coffee drinkers on Twitter.

Posting Roll up the Rim results to Twitter can have a positive effect:

If many people are winning, there are higher hopes of me winning.

If many people are losing, there's more prizes out there for me to win.

However, it can also have a negative effect:

If not many people are winning, what chances are there of me winning?

If many people are winning, all the prizes are probably already won.

I personally like this app because it combines online social media with drinking coffee. You can search for other users of this app on Twitter, by searching for #RollUpTheRim.

Do you think the RimRoller application is effective PR for Tim Hortons? What are some pros and cons?

For Social Media class we were asked to search within ourselves, look at ourselves critically and develop an identity that we could put into words.

And so I did.

High energy meets high ambitions; a passionate young writer searching for her place in public relations.

Please view my SlideShare presentation of my brand. And remember, I always appreciate comments and suggestions.

In context: Using Deirdre Breakenridge's article PR 2.0: A Communicator's Manifesto, as well as social media experience in Social Media class, I have put together a (hopefully) comic take on the changing ways of public relations.

Find out how PR Guy saves the day for Businessman. Not once, but twice!

I admit, I have hopped on the bandtractor and taken it straight to Farmville.

"Canada is the sixth biggest country in terms of the number of visitors to FarmVille." - CP 24.

Mindless time wasting aside though, I want to focus on what the creators, Zynga Games, are doing to bring people together. I feel that the underlying message in Farmville is one of community. In the game, you have to rely on friends to help you succeed. You must also help friends in order to unlock certain achievements.

With that in mind, it really touched me when Farmville reached out to help Haiti. A few days after the earthquake, Farmville offered a new crop for planting, White Corn. This was a paid item you could only purchase with FarmCash. The response was phenomenal. Many farmers spoke out in support of Zynga's Haiti Relief Fund.



White Corn costs about $5 in real money. When you donate, the crops will be accessible to you for a week, and would never wilt. As a token of appreciation, Farmville offered everyone who donated a gift of a Haiti flag.



To date, Zynga's Haiti Relief received $900,000 in donations. Farmville promises a special surprise for farmers, if the number goes up to $1 million by the end of today.

If a silly game can bring so many people together to do good, it can't be a complete waste of time. In a social media rich world, this is the best way to mobilize the masses to support for a cause. Good job, Farmville. My straw hat goes off to you.