Procter & Gamble?s Iams is expanding its Home 4 the Holidays campaign with digital efforts through mobile and social media that encourage consumers to adopt pets this holiday season.

Iams has partnered with Helen Woodward Animal Center on the campaign, which runs through Jan. 2.  Since beginning the event in 1999, Iams claims to have helped adopt pets to seven million families, and more than one million adoptions took place during last year?s event.

"Utilizing a mobile Web site provides a quick and easy way for new adopters to give back to the facility they adopted from," said Laura Lewis, external relations manager for Iams at P&G Pet Care, Mason, OH. "Consumers can join Iams Lifelong Rewards by mobile sign-up right when it's top of mind, while they are at an animal organization.

Mobile sign-up
Digital marketing is playing a big role in Iams? Home 4 the Holidays campaign this year, which helps pet homelessness by providing adoption and food services.

This year, consumers can sign-up to join the Iams Friends for Life program on the company?s mobile site - http://m.iams.com. For each sign-up, Iams will donate up to five pounds of food to a pet shelter.

Consumers can also sign-up at pet adoption and rescue centers.

Using a donation to entice consumers to use their mobile devices to sign-up for the program not only gives users an incentive, it also helps Iams drive donations.

The campaign also has a strong tie-in with social media. Via the mobile site, consumers can view videos from Iam?s YouTube account and subscribe to the company?s channel. A Facebook button also lets consumers "Like? the Iams Facebook page.

The dog food brand?s Facebook page will feature a different pet up for adoption each day during the campaign. At certain times of the day, every ?Like? or share will generate a meal donation from Iams.

Iams' mobile site

Buy on mobile
This is not the first mobile initiative from Iams this year.

This summer, Iams was one of the Procter & Gamble brands that partnered with Walmart to place QR codes on bus shelters and trucks. Consumers could then shop the brands by scanning the code. Other brands in the marketing effort included Tide, Pampers and Gillette (see story).

Using mobile as part of a donation program can be a great way to get consumers involved in a cause and bolster a company?s program.

Similarly, including a social media element to drive participation can be effective for brands. By using a donation as the hook to get users to ?Like? a page or share content, users will be more likely to interact on social media, which can help create a longer one-on-one relationship between the company and consumer.

"We wanted to provide consumers with another opportunity to provide food to pets in need and a mobile sign-up was one way to do that beyond our social media campaign," Ms. Lewis said.

"Mobile usage is growing and will continue to be an important way to reach consumers," she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York