Social Media Marketing Example #4: Del Monte Foods

Because of brand recognition, I’ve only associated Del Monte with fruit, rather than an entire line of products like 9 Lives, Starkist, Snausages, Milk Bone, and Kibbles and Bits. That being said, this overview will include a few of these lines (if I’ve missed anything please forgive me).

What are they Doing?

• Widgets
• Meow Mix doesn’t have any widgets that I’m aware of, but they do have fun games on the meow mix website like “Cat IQ” that would be interesting within Facebook or other profiles because they challenge competition and sharing.

Blogging

Once again, I couldn’t find blogs for Del Monte brands (perhaps because there are so many brands!), but I did find that one brand: Pup Peroni has a concept that could turn into a blog or a very handy microsite. Currently the Pup Peroni website has a section that includes links to other websites that help pet owners find pet-friendly housing, restaurants, etc. I think Del Monte could benefit from doing the legwork for the consumer and creating a site that aggregates user generated reviews of pet-friendly businesses across the US.

Social Networking

Currently Del Monte itself has a group called “Del Monte Fit N Right” on Facebook. It currently has 80 friends, but I wanted to cover it because it has a Google Calendar application included on this page. Though it wasn’t an active application, it was added to the front page of my profile. Under the new Facebook this is valuable territory for a brand, and would be a great application for a brand with frequent events over the course of a year.

Photo Contest

“Make a Milkbone Moment” is a photo-contest site dedicated to celebrating Milkbone’s 100th anniversary. The contest seems simple: submit a photo with you and your dog and your dog could be the next Milkbone spokesdog, with an attractive $100,000 signing bonus. Entry for the contest was conducted both on the site, and through a mobile tour with an interactive kiosk to receive entries (and a photographer to take pictures of pet owners and their dogs). Currently 100 winners were selected by a panel of judges, and are now up for public voting on the site. It’s a very cute concept, but as an audience member the main problem I experienced was the barrier to participation: once I wanted to vote or share a picture, I was prompted to register for the site.

Brand Monitoring

The most popular use of social media by Del Monte was when they created a virtual private community called I Love My Dog to support R&D efforts of a new breakfast treat for dogs, Snausages Breakfast bites. The community existed of 400 handpicked members, and these members provided valuable feedback on the product’s appearance and ingredients. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find this community anywhere online, so I’m afraid that I can’t show screenshots.

Do you have any other Del Monte examples within social media? With so many brands, I’m sure there is something more to add!