It’s time to look at the shortlist for Marketer of the Year, which appears in Marketing’s Nov. 28 issue. We’ll be featuring each one online as a lead-up to our January 2012 issue, where you’ll find out which marketer will reign supreme.
Mars Canada
The chocolate giant conducted an ingenious digital treasure hunt for red M&Ms and used entertaining storytelling to sell its pet food
It’s been an out-of-this-world 12 months for Mars. About a year ago, the U.S.-based headquarters of Mars – the chocolate and pet food company, not the red planet – decided to shake up operations so that, among other things, it could better serve the needs of individual regions. Closer to home, however, the effects of the restructuring have not dramatically altered the marketing strategy of Mars Canada, which has continued to plow ahead with innovative and acclaimed campaigns in both traditional and new media in the past 12 months.
If anything, the Mars Worldwide honchos might want to take some cues from their Canadian operation as they examine all aspects of their global business. The rest of the marketing world has certainly paid attention.
Take, for example, Mars Canada’s “Find Red” campaign for M&M’s. Developed in partnership with Toronto agency BBDO and its digital arm, Proximity, “Find Red” wrapped new and old media, digital technology and a classic idea into a wildly successful interactive package.
Last fall, a YouTube video invited people to participate in a virtual scavenger hunt conducted via Google Street View. Mars had placed red M&M images in various places across Toronto, and three of those images were captured by Google’s cameras. Once the four-week contest began, consumers were tasked with searching out the red candies on the Street View map hosted on a contest microsite. Clues to the whereabouts of the red M&M’s were presented in the YouTube video, the website, Twitter and Facebook, as well as real-world posters outfitted with QR codes that gave hints to mobile users. Clues could also be found by scanning M&M’s UPC codes with mobile phones and via Foursquare check-ins.
Turns out chocolate lovers also love a scavenger hunt. According to a follow-up YouTube video from Mars Canada, participants in the contest for a red Smart car spent an average of 19 minutes at
FindRed.ca. The campaign also generated 225,000 Twitter impressions and seven million QR code poster views.
“The M&M’s brand is always interested in furthering its presence online and in social media. It’s where our consumers go for information and entertainment and so we wanted to find a way to engage with them in their chosen world,” says Leslie Brams-Baker, communications manager for Mars Canada. “When BBDO Proximity came to us with the base concept for this program, we knew it was something special that we needed to follow through on.
“The program was a great way to spark dialogue online with consumers while tying in real-world elements.”
It was also a great way to earn worldwide acclaim—the Find Red campaign took home three Bronze Lions at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
There’s more! Check out the Nov. 28 issue of Marketing for the full profile, and subscribe to find out who will be named the Marketer of the Year for 2011.
