Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt is inviting customers to donate $1 to nonprofit No Kid Hungry in exchange for its mascot-themed augmented reality coloring sheet pin up, showcasing how brands can leverage mobile technology to complement corporate social responsibility efforts.

The self-serve snack franchise, which operates approximately 300 locations worldwide, is adding a mobile twist to its Generation Original program in collaboration with nonprofit organization No Kid Hungry. Customers who donate $1 to the charity will be able to bring Orange Leaf?s mascot to life via an augmented reality coloring sheet, which can be accessed via the Colorbug by Pixelbug mobile application.

?Orange Leaf is passionate about inspiring and celebrating originality, creativity and inventiveness in store, from our unique fro-yo flavors and new ways to #BeOrange such as with our Swizzles, Smoothies, cakes and snacks, to the ways we engage with our customers and employees,? said Karen Porter, vice president of marketing at Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt.

?By using augmented reality technology through our partnership with Pixelbug and its Colorbug AR app, we are able to bring our spokes-thingie, Orange Unicorn, to life,? she said. ?This, in turn, helps support our mission of creativity and engage our customers in new ways.

?The app is an interactive way to take coloring literally off the page, which makes our guests? visits to Orange Leaf all the more fun.?

Swirling up charitable donations
Orange Leaf?s Generation Original program seeks to raise money for the No Kid Hungry organization via online donation options, interactive in-store pin ups and a Swizzle Dine Out Week.

No Kid Hungry aims to combat child hunger in America, with just $1 securing up to 10 meals for a child in need.

Orange Leaf is relying on mobile for the first component of the program. Customers who donate $1 to No Kid Hungry will receive a free orange unicorn augmented reality coloring sheet at participating locations through the month of September.

Orange Leaf first introduced the integration with the Colorbug augmented reality app several months ago, bringing the brand's mascot to life for customers (see story).

Once consumers have procured the sheet, they can color in the stencil any way they please. Afterwards, they may download the Colorbug app from the Apple App or Google Play Store and point their smartphone at the stencil.

This will enable individuals to see their version of the orange unicorn come to life through augmented reality.

?Orange Leaf differentiates itself by delivering an exceptional consumer experience in our stores every day,? Ms. Porter said. ?And our consumers, specifically our core customers like millennials and busy moms, are interested also in interacting with brands through their mobile device due to their ever-evolving digital lifestyles.

?We believe digital and mobile are important ways for us to ensure that the Orange Leaf brand remains relevant and makes life easy for our customers while driving sales for our franchisees. To that end we are working on a new mobile app, available in the first quarter of 2017, that will provide a new experience for customers to engage with us.?

Consumers can also donate $1 to receive a limited-edition Generation Original coloring sheet, or purchase a Swizzle ? the brand?s latest frozen yogurt delicacy ? in-store to see one dollar from each purchase donated to No Kid Hungry.

Several featured fall-themed Swizzles are Pumpkin Spice Latte Swizzle, Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Swizzle and S?mores Swizzle.

The last way to donate to the program is to buy a limited-edition Generation Original t-shirt online at orangeleafyogurt.com/donate.

CSR efforts on mobile
Orange Leaf is not the only restaurant chain attempting to draw more awareness to its corporate social responsibility initiatives using mobile technology.

Quick-service seafood chain Long John Silver?s recently extended its corporate social responsibility outreach to mobile, leveraging several social channels ? including Vine, YouTube and Facebook ? to showcase mobile videos discussing its focus on sustainability, family and quality (see story).

Additionally, last year, Sam?s Club extended its corporate social responsibility initiatives and promoted its business support solutions by unrolling an interactive social campaign inviting small business owners to submit their questions on its Facebook and Twitter accounts for expert advice (see story).

?This is our fourth year of raising funds to help No Kid Hungry end childhood hunger in America,? Ms. Porter said. ?Each year, we look for new ways to draw awareness of childhood hunger, engage our customers and encourage donations.

?Knowing that our customers enjoy being creative online and off, we hope our AR sheet and other fun ideas in our Generation Original campaign will spur more donations.?