By Aaron BaarSeeHere.com, the year-old photo sharing site created by FujiFilm, is branding itself as the "Home of the Free" with a new cause-marketing effort that helps an organization that builds homes for severely injured veterans."When we were looking at our brander marketing campaign, we hit upon the idea that SeeHere.com is the 'Home of the Free,'" Joan Rutherford, vice president of marketing Web businesses for Fujifilm, tells Marketing Daily. "We felt [injured veterans] were an under-served population that we could help out."As a corporate sponsor of Homes For Our Troops, SeeHere.com will make an initial $25,000 donation to the nonprofit and has committed to a minimum donation of $100,000 over the next 12 months. As part of its sponsorship, SeeHere.com will donate $2 from the sale of certain products -- stainless steel travel mugs, hooded sweatshirts and tote bags -- on its site.
"We were looking for an organization that served families in the United States," Rutherford says of the sponsorship. "We thought this would be a good way to spread these messages across the U.S."
On Thursday, SeeHere.com kicked off an ad campaign touting the initiative with a print ad in The New York Times. The ad shows a disabled veteran and his family alongside a house. "They've helped protect our way of life. Now it's time to improve theirs," reads the headline. Body copy reads: "We created a new kind of photo-sharing site with SeeHere.com from Fujifilm. Now we're going to be sharing in a different way," before explaining the details of the initiative.Later this month, the company will break TV ads promoting the partnership, as well as extensive online and search-engine marketing, Rutherford says. The company will also participate in the building of about 20 new, accessible homes for veterans and will provide the new owners with digital cameras and photo gifts to chronicle the first year in their homes.Fujifilm will also support Kids for Our Troops, a student-run organization that activates schools and student groups to support the local Homes for Our Troops "Build Brigades" in their communities.