The celebrity chef tasting events tied to cause are done around most major sporting events these days. Bring in the big names and the exotic dishes, tie in local flavor, sprinkle in some former athletes and lots of brands and off you go, with a nice bang for a food pantry or another notable charity being the solid hook.
Now Taste of the NFL has taken the idea on the road, in addition to bringing the glitzy event to South Florida for this year’s Super Bowl. For those who don’t know, Taste of the NFL is an annual strolling food and wine event that occurs the night before the Super Bowl each year. The event features a chef from each NFL city serving their signature dish alongside a current or alumni NFL player. All proceeds from the event are distributed to designated Feeding America food banks in each of the 32 NFL team cities.
In addition to the Super Bowl event, teams have the opportunity to fundraise for their local food banks throughout the entire NFL season via Taste of the NFL’s Kick Hunger Challenge. Since Taste of the NFL’s inception in 1992, over $27 million has been raised to create 221 million meals for families in need across the country.
Now Taste of the NFL and Walmart will create an in-store retail program across 500 Walmart locations with partner vendors such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Quaker, Lipton, Doritos, Sabra, and Steam-Umm all coming together to help local food banks across the US.
Harrie Bakst and Taylor Kaminsky from WCPG, a cause and social impact agency, spearheaded the campaign alongside Nathan Spang and Samantha Shortridge from RSM, an agency that represents shopper marketing activations for Walmart.
Walmart exclusive Ultimate Homegating Guide will help prepare shoppers and get them ready for the their own hyper local events as well. It will include NFL Player Inspired Recipes, Partner Product Coupons, a Kick Hunger Challenge Community Outreach, and will all be fully integrated into Taste of the NFL in-store retailtainment and celebrity pop-up events to drive shoppers to purchase featured items at stores
The project will also have an Omni-channel focus, available to shoppers in-store at retailtainment and branded activations to promote immediate conversion as well as online to provide additional content and increase .com sales. It also promotes and encourages shoppers to connect and give back through the Kick Hunger Challenge while shopping for their own Homegating Party Experience.
So while a lot of the focus remains on the main event in Miami, the larger experience gives consumers a chance to taste locally, all tied to cause and positive messaging, which scores for all involved and sets a new high bar for tasting tied to sport.
Well played by all to make a successful platform even bigger.
