China has a kindness deficit. Often seen by foreigners and Chinese citizens alike as a country with little regard for basic humanity, there was an opportunity to show that China was not what it seemed. That it was a kind country where compassionate, caring citizens were the norm rather than the exception. At the same time, Alpenliebe, a candy present in the China market for 15 years was now suffering from increasing competition; it needed to inject life back into the brand by creating a human connection with people while differentiating itself from competitors and increase sales.

Bringing the warm fuzzy notion of kindness together with the sweet, milky candy Alpenliebe, we decided to launch a kindness movement on behalf of the brand, directed at Chinese youth to credibly build an emotional connection with consumers to inspire them, refresh the brand and ultimately increase sales. With the PR campaign "Everyday Acts of Positive Power," we wanted to inspire youth to actively live a life of kindness; to make China a kinder country. A dedicated social media plan to inspire fans to spread positive power through acts of kindness was coupled with offline kindness events, NGO partnerships and the engagement of key opinion leaders. Together we sparked 22 million conversations about "positive power" on Sina Weibo, four million online interactions within our community and became one of the most loved brands on Sina Weibo. Brand sales volume simultaneously increased by a staggering 20 percent with category sales increasing by 10 percent.

"Everyday Acts of Positive Power" was a campaign that integrated offline and online PR activities between May and December 2012. We created infographics every day with a specific call-to-action to inspire fans on Sina Weibo to make the world a kinder place. Infographics were organized in a "Everyday Acts of Positive Power" application where fans could see past posts and see other people's interactions (comments and reposts). Sina Weibo fans were passionate about sharing their acts of kindness with their own communities so we created a badge that would appear on their profile page when they engaged with the application. We integrated online efforts with offline kindness events, nongovernmental organization partnerships and key opinion leader support to bring the message full circle for consumers. We celebrated grassroots advocates – the kindest people - at a year-end event, which highlighted the best acts of kindness in 2012.

We transformed China into a kinder country through everyday acts of kindness – and at the same time exceeded the business objectives set.

• Increased Sina Weibo impressions by 308 percent – three times the target

• Increased percent of fans interacting with the brand to 3.21 percent - three times the target

• 600,000+ community members

• 4 million online interactions

• 246 media clippings worth almost 3 million USD in ad value

• 933,000 + Sina Weibo Alpenliebe badge downloads

• “Positive power” became a 2012 Top 10 Sina Weibo Hot Topic with Alpenliebe leading the conversation

• 20% growth in brand sales volume and 10% growth in category sales volume

According to Ipsos research conducted in January 2013, the brand was rated number one among its competitive set for:

• Top of mind when purchasing a confectionary product

• Likability

• Purchase intention

• Recommended to others