Amazon Delivering Smiles Brand Awareness Program

Producing 11 Holiday Donation Events in 11 U.S. Cities on 1 Day

My Role

Client Management: As the program manager for Amazon Delivering Smiles Program Manager, I served as the point of contact for the client, presenting plans, coordinating with client teams, and providing regular updates on the program’s progress.
Strategic Planning: I managed the strategic plan to be used for implementation after receiving the campaign concept and goals outlined by the client and team leadership. I identified partner organizations that would help amplify the program and made recommendations to ensure that the events were as telegenic as possible.
Project Management: I organized and produced the Delivering Smiles program in 11 cities on one day during the holiday season in partnership with nonprofit organizations and schools. I started the projects by working with each nonprofit to identify a unique event plan and schedule for the day, and then by working with the client teams to coordinate plans with their teams and volunteers. I then developed extensive execution documents and plans for each team member I would have onsite in each city, setting them up for a smooth load-in, event, and post-event process with everything pre-planned and ready to go. I was then on call throughout the day (while producing the NYC event) to talk through any troubleshooting assistance my team needed. I also worked with my team to ensure that they were able to execute their key roles for media promotions and the client for social media and internal communications.
Creative Management: I managed the extensive creative development for the program which included signage and collateral, but also branded event games and photo booth experiences that were sketched, fabricated, and delivered onsite.

Program

Amazon’s “Delivering Smiles” holiday program surprised 11 nonprofit organizations in 11 key cities around the U.S. on one day with a holiday party and the Treasure Truck full of gifts and donations for families in need.

The community engagement program featured a customized and branded event experience including a variety of holiday games, a photo booth, and story times. Each city had its own unique hyperlocal twist - we made is snow in LA and Miami, teens did karaoke in Austin, Santa Claus visited kids in San Francisco, and kids in Chicago had cookies and milk as a special snack. Each organization received a donation in the form of a check, and each child visited the Treasure Truck to receive a STEM toy.

The events were captured on video and photo and were pitched to media across the country through local and national publications and through a media tour. Nonprofits were encouraged to post photos on social media and share the event with their donors and patrons. The client managed social media promotions, internal communications, and invitations to local officials in each key market.

Results

The program reached over 1,500 people in-person and resulted in over 500 news stories with over 82 million news impressions. Feedback from the partner nonprofits was overwhelmingly positive with thank yous submitted by each for hosting such wonderful parties, and for supporting the organizations through donations and amplifying their missions.

Key Takeaways

Going Big = Big Impact: By doing all 11 events on the same day in key markets, we saw a huge impact on the reach of the program – by doing fewer events or by doing events on different days I suspect we would not have seen the reach that we did. Sometimes it pays off to go big even if it takes a larger effort or more dollars to execute.

Communication is Key: We saw miscommunication issues in only one market with a small nonprofit, all others went incredibly smoothly (with typical event-related challenges not withstanding), pointing to how important clear and consistent communication is, particularly when managing large programs with a number of projects and many players involved. I saw success in batching communications, creating templates with key information, and ensuring they were being sent out to each key partner at key moments in time. I also saw success in creating manuals with all of the information my teammates could possibly need while onsite at the events.

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