How Sweet It Is: The Sugar Association’s New Sugar Blog

Did you realize that one teaspoon of sugar has just 15 calories and contains no preservatives or additives of any kind? These are just some of the facts that The Sugar Association is trying to drive home with mom consumers with the recent launch of their new blog, the Sugar Blog (http://blog.sugar.org). “We are hoping our efforts in the social media arena will help us with our message,” says Melanie Miller, vice president public relations.

To help introduce the blog to consumers, The Sugar Association is hosting Mom’s Favorite Cookie Recipe contest. The contest encourages moms to submit their favorite original cookie recipe for a chance to win great cash prices including $1,000 for the top cookie creation. Other than being an original recipe, the only other criterion is that the recipe must use at least ¼ cup of sugar. The contest has relied heavily on its viral nature by incorporating numerous social media tools. “We have been using our Facebook page, Twitter and advertising on MomsLikeMe.com. We also sent the announcement to several recipe contest sites,” says Miller. “To date, we have more than 100 submissions.”

With the contest ending on September 15, 2009, plans are in the works to have the senior staff of The Sugar Association blogging on a weekly basis. “We will use the blog for messaging on key issues we are following such as labeling, science and research and misinformation in the media,” says Miller. Miller learned firsthand during last year’s M2Moms®-The Marketing To Moms Conference how influential the mom consumer can be in spreading a brand’s message. “I think the biggest take away I had from last year’s conference was the power of the mom network—their openness to good information and how far reaching that network can be,” says Miller. “For people to ignore that influence is a huge mistake.”