NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Schiff Nutrition Group, Inc. and M&C Saatchi NY have launched a Valentines Day marketing campaign, Whose Heart Do You Love, for one of the leading and fastest-growing Krill Oil supplements in America, MegaRed. The innovative social media and sampling campaign, the first of its kind in the category, was timed to coincide with both Valentines Day and National Heart Health Month.

Jennifer Steeves-Kiss, Chief Marketing Officer of Schiff Nutrition said: Consumers really love the product once they try it, so sampling is an important part of getting the word out. Since Valentines Day is about celebrating who you love, we wanted to use that insight to turn the sampling model on its head and expand the reach of our effort.

Through a custom Facebook application, MegaRed allows consumers to request a free product sample for their loved ones. As a bonus, the person requesting a sample on behalf of a friend also receives a free sample for themselves.

As part of the effort, Schiff is making a $100,000 donation to the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease (www.womenheart.org). This component, noted Steeves-Kiss, is meant to galvanize consumer participation around a worthy cause. It should be noted that according to a recent study by Latitude Research, 84% of people say they share online to support a cause.

Pierre Lipton, Chief Creative Officer of M&C Saatchi NY, said that given the sampling effort is social in nature, so is the promotion behind it. Theres virtually no paid media supporting the campaign. Instead, the brand is relying heavily on peer-to-peer distribution through Facebook and an influencer component on Twitter where several celebrities are tweeting their support for the effort. Among those are Jennie Garth, Toni Braxton and Joy Bauer, all of whom have a personal interest in supporting heart health. Blogger outreach is also being used to support the effort.

The campaign is further supported by a playful, one-minute animated video tied to the idea that no matter whose heart you love, keep that heart healthy this Valentines Day with MegaRed Omega-3 Krill Oil. Lipton added: We thought there was something kind and sweet about the notion that love, like people, comes in many forms. And that regardless of who you care for, doing something that could keep them healthy is actually pretty romantic. M&C Saatchi partnered with the Los Angeles based animation company Stardust on the video, which will primarily live on MegaReds YouTube and Facebook channels.

M&C Saatchi NY CEO Jeff Brooks said: Schiffs challenge to develop an idea that would drive trial through earned media was incredibly appealing. Doing more with less is the new reality for marketers, despite many brands remaining skeptical about how to use social media to drive commerce.

While social platforms are still primarily about community engagement, the explosion of commerce-supported experiences such as Pinterest, Svpply and Etsy suggests that social shopping is the new frontier. There is a growing trend around social commerce with Facebook driving over 25% of referral traffic to business websites, and Gartner Research suggesting that by 2015 we can expect 50% of web sales to occur through social media. Furthermore, Valentines Day is one of the most social times of year both offline and online. According to the National Retail Federation, last year 141 million cards were exchanged, making it the 2nd largest holiday for greeting cards; and 66% of women and 44% of men talked about Valentines Day on social networks.

About Schiff Nutrition and MegaRed:

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Schiff Nutrition and M&C Saatchi ask consumers “Whose Heart Do You Love?”