Walmart is adding the latest social media components to its annual Fight Hunger. Spark Change campaign, rolling out its first Snapchat filters to select bricks-and-mortar locations and prompting consumers to show support on Twitter by introducing a custom emoji.

The campaign, which sees Walmart aim to donate $3 million to the Feeding America organization, officially kicked off yesterday and will run through April 25. Consumers have a multitude of ways with which they can spread the word for the charity and fuel donations, most notably by publishing Snapchat stories featuring the retailer?s new geofilter and by Tweeting using the #FightHunger hashtag, which will automatically prompt a custom emoji to appear.

?The use of emojis and custom emojis has been on the rise via Twitter and downloadable emoji keyboards, so any new way to utilize branded emojis tied in with a large charitable campaign will garner interest, and potentially a broader positive sentiment across the campaign conversation on Twitter,? said Bethany Maki, vice president of nonprofit digital strategy at PM Digital.

Taking public action
Walmart is collaborating with five leading consumer packaged goods brands to ramp up support for Feeding America and subsequently increase the number of donations made during the month-long campaign.

Consumers who purchase participating products from PepsiCo, Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, Kraft Heinz Company and Kellogg Company will help give meals to struggling families in their communities. Each manufacturer will donate $0.09 to Feeding America for every qualifying item bought at Walmart through April 25.

Walmart shoppers will also be able to donate an amount of their choice at in-store cash registers.

However, the nation?s biggest retailer is largely relying on mobile to help spread awareness for the campaign by encouraging consumers to generate donations for food banks by uploading posts onto Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via the #FightHunger hashtag.

Twitter is embarking on a new strategy as well, developing a custom emoji that will appear in consumers? post automatically upon using the #FightHunger hashtag. The emoji consists of a fork and a knife with a red punching glove sandwiched between the two.

?There have been a couple of great custom emoji campaigns, including Coke?s #shareacoke and the AMAs, which more than doubled the number of Tweets and more than tripled impressions at the 2015 awards show from the year prior,? said Cara Scharf, president and founder of Fearless Media. ?Fearless Media runs geofilter campaigns for its clients all the time. Our Black Friday campaign for the video game Fallout 4 led to double-digit increases in awareness and purchase intent.

?It's all a numbers game and custom hashtag emojis greatly improve engagement and participation. I think Walmart will see a major uptick in its reach on Twitter.?

For each post uploaded onto social media, Walmart will donate $0.90 ? enough to secure 10 meals for Feeding America?s affiliated food banks ? up to a total donation of $1.5 million.

The brand is kicking off the campaign with an initial flat donation of $1.5 million.

Individuals can also show support by sharing campaign posts on Facebook and visiting the mobile-optimized Walmart.com/fighthunger site.

The retail brand has previously turned to mobile to drum up participation in the annual campaign.

Last year, Walmart asked consumers to partake in the Fight Hunger. Spark Change initiative by uploading a photo with six friends onto social networks to prompt the retailer to donate $10 per post to Feeding America, proving that social media is an optimal communication vehicle for cross-partnerships with nonprofits (see story).

Foraying into location-based tactics
Walmart is finally dipping its toes into the world of geolocation by implementing its first Snapchat filters in select stores. The geofilters will coincide with the Fight Hunger. Spark Change campaign.

Consumers will be able to snap selfies or other pictures while shopping at Walmart, emblazon their images with the geofilter and send them to friends or upload a public story. Therefore, more individuals will be able to hear about the campaign.

?Walmart felt that adding geofilters would be a really fun and easy way for our customers to share with their social network ? in real time - that they are doing good and helping fight hunger in their own community,? said a spokesman for Walmart. ?When one customer uses the geofilter and sends the Snapchat to his or her network of friends, awareness about the campaign, along with awareness on the issue of food insecurity in the community, begins to grow.?

Using mobile to engage local communities and residents is a must-have strategy for any major retailer.

A Marketing Evolution executive at the Mobile Marketing Association's Mobile Location Leadership Forum emphasized why marketers need to think local, pointing to a video campaign from Walmart that was two times more effective on mobile than average as an example of how to successfully leverage location (see story).

"Walmart should be commended for a number of things ? first, an effort to help feed the hungry should be saluted,? said Jeff Hasen, founder of Gotta Mobilize and author of The Art of Mobile Persuasion. ?Second, Walmart is providing multiple ways for shoppers to participate. That is key, given the varying interests and levels of activity in such channels as mobile and social.

?By adding gamification and Snapchat elements, the retailer is bringing fun to the process,? he said. ?What's missing? A donate button would be useful. Enabling quick and easy participation would certainly reduce the barriers to getting contributions.?