Honey Maid Launches Microsite to Spur Kid Creativity
The site, Made Co., encourages kids to use their imaginations while also promoting a new product and tapping into what the brand says is its roots as a source of ideas.
Honey Maid Honey Grahams has launched the Made Co. initiative, a microsite and contest series that encourages kids ages six to 12 to get creative and gives them the chance to have their ideas brought to life with the help of industry experts.
A Honey Maid rep says the name “Made Co.” is representative of the brand’s purpose to fuel kids to create and was chosen because Honey Maid wanted to cultivate a resource where ideas get made.
Honey Maid says it will work with project experts from a variety of industries like clothing design, games and toys and book publishing. These experts will post project briefs on the site, calling for kids to submit their ideas. Along with Honey Maid, industry experts will review the submissions and select one winning idea per project to be professionally created with the help of the winning applicant.
“The basic premise is we’ve partnered with a variety of different companies and are offering up opportunities for kids to enter to win a chance to have their idea get made by experts,” says Katie Butler, senior brand manager of Kids Wholesome at Honey Maid parent Mondelez International.
While the initiative is ongoing, the initial Made Co. projects include: a book produced by HarperCollins Publishers in which kids are asked to submit ideas inspired by the most funny or memorable day they’ve ever had for a chance to work with My Weird School book series author Dan Gutman; a Phineas and Ferb Best Day Ever animated drawing workshop by Disney in which kids are asked to submit story ideas chronicling their Best Day Ever using a Comic Creator for a chance to win a one-on-one drawing workshop with an animator; and a Next Miniclip Hero creation opportunity in which kids are asked to submit ideas for a heroic character that will be designed and incorporated into an upcoming game on Miniclip.com.
As each project wraps up, Honey Maid will bring on another one, Butler says.
Developed by advertising network Droga5, the Made Co. initiative also coincides with a series of television commercials for the brand’s new snack, Honey Maid Grahamfuls Filled Crackers. The ads, which began airing in July, are running on Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
As Butler explains, in 2012, Mondelez set out to reposition Honey Maid as an everyday snack for kids rather than just something used for s’mores and gingerbread houses. The Grahamfuls launch is part of that endeavor.
“As we thought about what relationship we could have with kids and become part of their lives, we realized so much of the heritage of Honey Maid is about fueling ideas and creativity,” Butler says. “We looked back at old print ads from the ‘30s and ‘40s — neat ads that showed kids having Honey Maid and milk as a snack before their paper route or before volunteer work with the war effort, so it was striking to us that we have that heritage of wholesomeness and have inspired and encouraged [kids] for so long.”
Butler says Honey Maid only advertises products to kids that meet certain nutritional criteria. The site also has a tab for parents where they can get additional information.
Honey Maid is running digital ads on Disney, Nickelodeon, Stardoll and Miniclip to promote the initiative. Made Co. will also be featured on the Honey Maid and Nabisco Facebook pages next week. These posts will be geared toward parents.
Honey Maid has 37,000 Facebook fans; Nabisco has 1.1 million.
