Throughout 2000 Edelman Brazil worked diligently to highlight the social commitment of UPS – United Parcel Service, to the community it services.  After an analysis of existing Holiday Season initiatives, we identified the city of São Paulo’s need for a strong toy drive.  We implemented one and ensured a toy-filled Christmas for 6,000 underprivileged children.

UPS opened its Brazilian subsidiary only five years ago and has since grown its business significantly.  Although the business community recognized UPS, the company remained relatively unknown within the community.  

Throughout the year we managed the UPS sponsorship of a charity for abused children and a Brazilian Olympic athlete.  Both platforms were successful in terms of visibility, but UPS maintained low community recognition.  

After research conducted with the Municipal Government of São Paulo, our evaluation was that the Christmas Holidays represented the best opportunity to end the year close to the community in a meaningful manner.

Edelman did the strategic planning for a Christmas Holiday toy drive to collect 10,000 gifts for underprivileged children, create high-impact media return and establish strong business partners in the local market.

We identified ACB, Ação Comunitária do Brasil (Community Service Program of Brazil), a not-for-profit organization, which wanted to collect new and used toys for 6,000 children during the Christmas Holidays.

A well-established partner with strong presence within the state was essential to ensure meeting the goal of 10,000 toys.  Edelman Brazil suggested the inclusion of another of its flagship clients, Grupo Pão de Açúcar, Brazil’s largest retail chain, to be a partner in the toy drive as it is also highly dedicated to the community and invests considerably in this area.  

Grupo Pão de Açúcar provided privileged space for the collection boxes and campaign posters in 71 of its prime location supermarkets.  The toy drive started on November 20 and ended on December 17, 2000.   

Edelman created the final artwork for the banners, posters and collection boxes.  We developed the official press release and Questions & Answers document for each of the partners.  We submitted the material to the general media in the state of São Paulo and conducted massive follow-up activities to ensure visibility.  We also sent regular “collection update” releases to the same targeted media vehicles.

Edelman engaged its employees in the toy drive and matched the agency’s toy donations with the financial equivalent to assist ACB in providing schoolbooks and material to the children for the upcoming school year.

Throughout the process, Edelman called the 71 store managers twice weekly to verify the need for toy collection and then notified UPS, which handled all of the deliveries and logistics related to the toy drive.

The final count included 13,440 toys that represented approximately a 35 percent more gifts than the initial program objective.  Each child received at least two

gift-wrapped toys.

The media results were impressive throughout the state, but specifically in São Paulo and Campinas, the two UPS operations centers in the state.  UPS’s commitment and integrity toward the community was widely reported.  This toy drive was by far the most successful and written about during the holiday season.
UPS, Pão de Açúcar, ACB and Edelman have committed to implementing the toy drive again, in 2001.