Company: Restaurant.com, Arlington Heights, IL
Company Description: Restaurant.com is the leading provider of restaurant savings nationwide. The company offers the best deals on meals at nearly 20,000 restaurants across the country with more than 60,000 daily gift certificate options, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Restaurant.com has helped customers save more than $2 billion since the Arlington Heights, Ill.-based company was founded in 1999.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year

Nomination Title: Restaurant.com’s Viral Marketing Campaign – Feed It Forward

Tell the story of this nominated marketing campaign for the judges (up to 500 words). Describe the genesis, planning, execution, and results to date of your campaign. If applicable, remember to describe what's unique or innovative about your campaign:

Feed It Forward is a unique celebration of the gift of giving during the holiday season. The campaign provides the opportunity for everyone to share in the holiday spirit by enabling individuals to send FREE $10 Restaurant.com eGift Cards to friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, etc., or anonymously as random acts of kindness to members of the Restaurant.com community. Feed It Forward was started in 2008 as a result of the economic downturn with the understanding that there is a hidden emotional gem in giving to others.

Organizations including the American Lung Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Illinois, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois and Salvation Army Metropolitan Division teamed up with Restaurant.com in 2010 and 2011 to help support the efforts of Feed It Forward and spread the gift of giving to their own communities and beyond.

Feed It Forward is built upon a single giving Web site that is active from Thanksgiving to Christmas – www.Restaurant.com/FeedItForward . Consumers visit the site and log in with a Restaurant.com account or via Facebook to send $10 Restaurant.com eGift Cards for free.

Givers can access their Gmail or Yahoo accounts to send gifts, select friends from Facebook or enter email addresses manually. Feed It Forward eGift Cards are sent to the selected recipients via email with a personalized template and note from the giver. Recipients then redeem the eGift Cards through the Feed It Forward giving site, choosing dining destinations from more than 10,000 participating Restaurant.com restaurants nationwide. Restaurant.com eGift Cards never expire.

In 2011, Feed It Forward helped people nationwide celebrate the gift of giving in record numbers. Participants gave more than $22 million in Restaurant.com Gift Cards in 2011, bringing the four-year total to more than $53 million in giveaways.

Following are testimonials and stories of gratitude from Feed It Forward participants:

“I was unemployed for a while and had some unexpected expenses. I took full advantage to give these gift cards since there are so many people in need.” - Rick of Fort Wayne, Ind.

"I have found that the more a person gives, the more that’s given back. It made me feel honored to be able to give.” - Lyn of Mount Laurel, N.J.

“I was thankful for the surprise gift card. Life gets going too fast. It was nice way to slow down and take my son on a date to remember what’s really important in life – people. Dinners out give us a chance to talk and to listen, without TV, video games and other distractions.” - Christie of Rochester, N.Y.

Upload a collection of supporting files and web addresses to our server to provide more background information to the judges. You may upload any number of attachments and URLs through the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above. (Do NOT list your URLs below.)

Provide a brief biography of the leader of the team that planned and executed this marketing campaign (up to 100 words):

The planning and execution of Feed It Forward is a group effort by all members of the Restaurant.com marketing team. Led by President and Chief Marketing Officer Christopher Krohn, the marketing team, with the help of many members of the IT team and an interactive agency, start planning Feed It Forward in late spring to prepare for execution in late fall.