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

NEW YORK --(Business Wire)--

Schiff Nutrition Group, Inc. and M&C Saatchi NY have launched a Valentine's 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 Valentine's 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 Valentine's 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 (News - Alert) 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. There's virtually no paid media supporting the campaign." Instead, the brand is relying heavily on peer-to-peer distribution through Facebookand an influencer component on Twitter (News - Alert) 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 Valentine's 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 MegaRed's YouTube (News - Alert) and Facebook channels.

M&C Saatchi NY CEO Jeff Brooks said: "Schiff's 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 (News - Alert) 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 (News - Alert) Research suggesting that by 2015 we can expect 50% of web sales to occur through social media. Furthermore, Valentine's 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 Valentine's Day on social networks.

About Schiff Nutrition and MegaRed®:

Schiff Nutrition has been nourishing generations of healthy, active lives since 1936. By applying just the right amount of science to what nature already offers, Schiff Nutrition Group, Inc. is leading the way in advanced consumer nutrition. Their portfolio of well-known brands includes MegaRed®, Move Free®, Airborne®, Digestive Advantage®, Schiff® Vitamins, and Tiger's Milk®. Schiff was recently acquired by Reckitt Benckiser in a deal valued at $1.4Billion.

MegaRed®, a product which is only 6 years old, has grown to become America's #1 brand in the Krill Oil category. This success is primarily the result of a superior product relative to the majority of Omega-3 supplement alternatives. MegaRed is a small pill that is only taken once per day (vs. 2 times for typical competitors) and which doesn't have any of the fishy after-taste associated with other Omega-3's as it is sourced from krill oil, not fish oil. As cardiovascular disease affects over 75 million Americans, MegaRed is an important component of promoting overall heart health.

About M&C Saatchi New York:

M&C Saatchi New York is the most recent addition to the world's largest independent agency network, which was created 18 years ago on the founding principle of Brutal Simplicity of Thought™. Launched this past spring, the NY office is currently 40+ people with capabilities spanning brand strategy, advertising, social and mobile media, event marketing and public relations. Current NY clients include Pernod Ricard, Reebok, UGG, Reckitt Benckiser, The USOC and The National Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.