Cause Marketing/ Community Programs

Dillard’s Inc. is giving more than $850,000 to local Chapters of Ronald McDonald House Charities after selling its exclusive Southern Living Christmas Cookbook.

For the eighth time, Dillard’s offered a special custom edition of the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook to benefit RMHC. This exclusive, 288-page hardbound cookbook is filled with fabulous holiday recipes, color photos, menus, decorating tips and entertaining ideas.

The pet products category is hugely important to Tractor Supply and now the nation’s largest operator of farm and ranch stores has devised an innovative approach to drive demand at its nearly 1,500 stores.

In pursuit of its altruistic mission of creating a better everyday life for people, Ikea’s efforts go beyond selling opening price point home goods in cavernous stores.

This year's Ikea Foundation Soft Toys for Education campaign, which ran from Nov. 1 through Dec. 26, raised over $1.4 million in the U.S. alone through soft toys, Ikea Family children's books and card games sales.

Toys“R”Us says its annual nationwide fundraising campaign to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation raised more than $5.8 million and collected over 200,000 toys.

During the 2015 campaign, customers helped bring holiday joy to some of the 15.5 million kids in need across the U.S. by donating new, unwrapped toys at Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores nationwide and through monetary contributions made in stores and online at Toysrus.com/ToysforTots.

Toys “R” Us says its annual nationwide fundraising campaign to benefit the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation raised more than $5.8 million and collected over 200,000 toys.

During the 2015 campaign, customers helped bring holiday joy to some of the 15.5 million kids in need across the U.S. by donating new, unwrapped toys at Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores nationwide and through monetary contributions made in stores and online at Toysrus.com/ToysforTots.

Carl Nottberg, a veteran retail facilities executive, is battling cancer.

Nottberg, senior VP of business development at USM, is suffering from multiple myeloma, a relatively uncommon form of cancer that attacks the plasma cells in the bone marrow. He has been in and out of treatment while his immune system is attacked, and hospitalized for weeks at a time.

Williams-Sonoma knows how to connect with its core customers and has crafted life-altering promotion that does just that to commemorate its 60th anniversary.

Kmart is launching a new social media campaign called “Fit in the Fun” that promotes the enjoyment of healthy activities while also engaging members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program.

The program includes a dedicated Fit in the Fun website as well as a #FitintheFun hashtag campaign. In addition, celebrity fitness instructor Jillian Michaels (who has an established relationship with Kmart) offers online tips and also sells branded merchandise on the new site.

As we wrap up another holiday season, it’s time to review some of the most innovative and successful omnichannel promotions launched by retailers.

Some of these promotions were brand new, some were updated versions of established favorites. And some directly drove purchases while others built brand awareness and general holiday goodwill. But all five of the selected campaigns engaged customers in ways that should help boost loyalty long after holiday cheer fades.

Harry & David