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Mars Canada has launched a contest campaign in support of its M&M’s Speck-tacular Eggs candy, an Easter-themed initiative that includes television and online advertising and an interactive website.
The “Join the Hunt” campaign is anchored by a virtual hunt for M&M’s Speck-tacular Eggs at JoinTheHunt.ca, where visitors can create an account and search for hidden candy eggs, collecting contest points for each egg they find. Each egg has a corresponding PIN code, which contestants must enter into their online account to receive the points; the more points collected, the better the chances of winning an instant prize or one of three grand prize trips.
Visitors can also conduct their search on four microsites hidden within the main contest site, as well as play games to accrue extra points.
Offline, consumers can find PIN codes on packages of M&M’s Speck-tacular Eggs and enter the codes online to earn points. Online banner ads appearing on websites such as MSN.ca, MySpace.com, YouTube.ca, Yahoo.ca, Canoe.ca and TheWeatherNetwork.com also contain the eggs and PIN codes that can be redeemed for points.
“We wanted to make the Hunt as fun and interactive as we could, to not just have people going to the shelves and buying packages,” said Jon Webber, associate creative director at Proximity Canada, the Toronto-based interactive agency that handled online creative.
“We wanted to be able to extend the life of (the campaign) and keep people engaged as long as we can and make it fun.”
“The M&M’s brand has always been about sharing,” said Christine Parent-Inch, brand director, Mars Canada Inc. in a release. “The virtual egg hunt was an extraordinary idea for the brand that builds on multiple platforms to engage the consumer. The entire campaign encourages participants to experience the brand through a virtual world that they can explore and tap into in a multitude of ways.”
The three grand prize winners of the contest, which ends June 30, will be selected by random draw in mid-July and will receive trips for four to New York, Las Vegas or Orlando, Fla.
Along with online and point-of-sale executions, advertising support for the contest includes two 30-second television spots. Both animated ads feature M&M’s characters “Red” and “Yellow.” In one spot, both are shown hunting for eggs, with Red placing his eggs in a basket and Yellow, who has no basket, storing them in his mouth. In the other spot, the duo dresses up in bunny costumes and hide eggs around a house. Both commercials end by directing viewers to JoinTheHunt.ca.
The spots were created by BBDO Toronto, while NewYork’s Firstborn Multimedia contributed production services to both the television and web elements of the campaign, including the animation. OMD handled the buy.
Advertising for the contest runs until April 12.
