Big Numbers for Kraft's 'Real Women' Video Contest

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated 220,000 people logged in to watch Kraft’s video contest award ceremony. The actual number is likely to be much lower than that. ClickZ is seeking clarification and will update this story.

Paula Deen crowned four “Real Women of Philadelphia” Wednesday night in a live ceremony from Lucas Theatre for the Arts in Savannah, GA. The event was the culmination of a nearly three month marketing program from Kraft that garnered some impressive numbers by combining online video with a recipe competition.

The contest began on March 22, when Food Network personality Paula Deen appeared on RealWomenofPhiladelphia.com to encourage women to send in a video of themselves cooking their favorite recipes (with Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese, of course) in response to a series of challenges. Two winners were chosen from each week’s challenge and flown to Deen’s hometown earlier this week to compete in the final challenge. The four winners chosen last night were given $25,000 and the chance to host their own show on the site. Each winner will also contribute recipes to an upcoming Kraft cookbook.

Since the launch of the contest, RealWomenofPhiladelphia.com has garnered more than 590,000 unique views, and women have uploaded more than 5,100 homemade videos. The launch video featuring Paula Deen has garnered more than 10 million views itself, while the videos uploaded by the contestants have been viewed about 19 million times. (Those numbers include views on YouTube and other third-party sites.)

Among the 590,000 visitors to the site, Kraft said, about 25 percent were repeat viewers, indicating a high level of engagement. (All numbers were provided by Kraft.)

The site was set up by social media company EQAL, which also produced 15 videos starring Deen. The agency working with Kraft to drive the program is Third Act/Digitas.

The hope now is that the site will continue to function as a community where home cooks can gather and exchange ideas. No release date has yet been set for the cookbook.