Sara Lee Tunes In Martha Stewart Radio
Sara Lee is cozying up to Martha Stewart Living Radio with a recipe contest.
The Joy of Eating contest runs on Sirius satellite radio (channel 112) during the show Whatever with Alexis & Jennifer, co-hosted by Stewart’s daughter Alexis Stewart.
Alexis and her co-host, Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, chat up the brand and invite listeners to submit their favorite recipe using products from Sara Lee Food & Beverage, along with a funny or touching story about the dish. Submissions, photos and stories are posted on the channel’s Web site, Sirus.com/Martha. The winner gets a trip to New York to attend a taping of Stewart’s TV show, Martha. The contest runs through Nov. 10.
Martha Stewart introduced the contest on the radio station by sharing her favorite Sara Lee memory, that as a young girl she would remove all the frosting from her mother’s fresh Sara Lee Chocolate Cakes, and then reseal the box.
“This is a perfect forum to ignite a national conversation about how food plays a central role in the enjoyment of times with families and loved ones and how much joy really revolves around it,” says John Harris, VP-media development Sara Lee.
Throughout the four-week promo, the show hosts will talk about Sara Lee in the context of food and eating rituals, which reinforces Sara Lee’s ads that play up the emotional connections of food.
The contest supports Downers Grove, IL-based Sara Lee’s first-ever umbrella ad campaign, themed “Joy of Eating,” which broke in August for its deli, bakery and dessert lines.
The new tag line and visuals have been added to P-O-P, packaging, bakery delivery trucks and other marketing mediums. The estimated $20 million to $30 million campaign centers on TV spots that show people with their mouths full, savoring their food. The new Web site, TheJoyofEating.com, posts recipes to dress up Sara Lee products, such as pound cake, bagels and coffeecake.
“[The Martha Stewart partnership] is another great example, of looking for alternative ways to get your brands — and a great theme like Joy of Eating — out there,” Harris says.
Consumer promotions are slated to begin later this year. TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, handles the campaign for Sara Lee, which named the shop its advertising agency of record in May.
Sirius has about 5.1 million subscribers. It does not have ratings for specific channels. Martha Stewart Living Radio launched Nov. 21, 2005. Sara Lee Corp. spent $95.9 million on advertising in the first half of 2006.
— Betsy Spethmann contributed to this report
