Kraft helps you feed your family & America too

In many ways, 2008 was the "Year of the App" with marketers focusing at least some of their energies on cracking the code for delivering value and engaging consumers through applications of the Facebook and iPhone variety.  And so it is fitting that Kraft Foods (disclosure: Kraft is a crayon client) is rounding out the year with a couple of solid efforts in App marketing.  Both are good examples of how big brands can leverage new platforms to deliver beyond-the-box value.

Check out what Kraft is serving up.

Kraft iFood Assistant

First up, we have iFood Assistant.  Kraft is the first consumer packaged goods company to launch a food App for the Apple iPhone, tapping into Americans' increasingly mobile lifestyles and adding value in ways that are consistent with Kraft's brand promise and business objectives.

iFood Assistant offers more than 7,000 recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts, from healthy options to holiday splurges.  Most are consumer-rated and reviewed, and a bunch feature helpful video demonstrations, all resident right on the phone.  (Most similar Apps simply call up Safari and point you to the mobile web.)  Of course, iFood Assistant isn't all form, no function.  Its best features include the ability to create shopping lists, organized by supermarket aisle, and even find the nearest grocery store.  The result?  An easy way to use your iPhone to get food ideas, plan meals and shop smarter.

While today's iFood Assistant presents recipe and meal ideas from the Kraft Kitchens, it was built as an agnostic platform and Kraft plans to incorporate recipes, ideas and products from partners to provide iPhone users with a solid, general purpose grocery/cooking App that offers lots of utility and content in a single, well-designed package.

iPhone users can hit the App Store to download it, or visit Kraft's iFood Assistant page to learn more.

Kraft Supports Feeding America

If Facebook is more your style and you're looking to help needy families, Kraft has partnered with SocialVibe to launch Fill a Bowl, Feed America.  The proposition here is simple and the cause is a good one -- you install the Facebook App, register at KraftFoods.com or make a cash donation to Feeding America (Kraft will match your donations dollar for dollar), and in return Kraft buys up to 3.2 million meals for people in need.  This SocialVibe/Facebook effort is a smart social media extension of a larger charitable giving program that Kraft is supporting, to make a positive impact in the real world.

As I write this Fill a Bowl, Feed America has already generated enough support to fund close to 1 million meals -- help Kraft and Feeding America get to the full 3.2 million.