Mrs. T?s Pierogies is partnering with lifestyle Web site HelloGiggles to get the most out of National Pierogi Day with a multitude of interactive content to standout amongst the onslaught of 'national holidays.'

The largest producer of frozen pierogies in the country is tapping into the power of interactive social marketing to extend their audience to a younger generation. The social promotion will lead up to National Pierogi day on October 8.

Pierogi day
National Pierogi Day falls on October 8, the anniversary of Mary Twardzik?s (the real Mr.s T) son first introducing pierogies, which are an Eastern European dish, to American supermarkets. More than 60 years later, the crescent-shaped food has become a popular mainstream part of American cuisine.

To celebrate, Mrs. T?s is partnering with women?s lifestyle Web site, HelloGiggles. The site, which was acquired by Time, Inc. last year, caters to women with an emphasis on health and entertainment.

Users on HelloGiggles can take a sponsored personality quiz that matches them up with a different flavor of pierogi based on their personalities. Personalities and flavors include loaded baked potato for people who like to comfort others and feta and spinach for adventurous, traveler types.

Once their personalities have been determined, users are treated to saveable, shareable ecards depicting their personality and the corresponding pierogi flavor. HelloGiggles encourages users to share their ecards on social media and with friends, with posts being featured on HelloGiggles? official Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

The ecards are vertically oriented, making them perfect for sharing via mobile, and can be sent through any standard messaging app that supports photo sharing.

Ecards for everyone
Mrs. T?s shareable ecards are an underused but not unheard of strategy of content marketing. Readymade content is shared more often and more easily than content that is entirely user-generated, as well as being a way for a brand to own the message being shared as much as possible.

Taco Bell used a similar campaign to celebrate National Taco Day earlier this week, with a dedicated mobile microsite and vertically-oriented ecards meant for mobile sharing both personally and on social media (see story).

Like Mrs. T?s, Taco Bell?s ecards were readymade and had little input from users in terms of content.

Other brands have taken a more customizable approach to ecards.

Earlier this year, Honest Tea launched a campaign called The Refreshingly Honest Project. That initiative saw the brand release digital ecards with relatable, honest moments and encouraging users to create and share their own content with honest moments they have experienced (see story).

The level of customization given to the consumer when it comes to shareable content presents an important balance for a brand to strike. Too much freedom, and the brand risks the message becoming diluted by the stream of unrelated social media posts.

However, too little freedom and the campaign can seem too rigid and lacking in creativity. Mrs. T's Pierogies is attempting to find that balance and provide shareable content to consumers that is memorable and fun while remaining on-brand.