It’s not easy being green, but evidently red or yellow isn’t a cakewalk either.
As part of a national campaign that launched Feb. 1, “Red” and “Yellow”—M&M’s animated milk chocolate candy characters – sent fans a letter posted on M&M Canada’s Facebook page saying that they were hanging up their shells and quitting. (Turns out they didn’t like being lost in couches and dropped on movie theatre floors.)
The concept for the “We Quit” promotional campaign was developed by BBDO, and can be found in magazine, print, cinema, digital and social platforms.
A new phase of the campaign went live this week – a Facebook promotion called “We’re Hiring” running Feb. 11 to 21. Fans that want to become an M&M’s “spokes candy” can fill out a job application. Up for grabs is an M&M’s candy prize pack and the chance for the winner to have their own custom M&M’s spokes candy designed and created. Plus, they’ll get to take control of M&M Canada’s Facebook page for a day as part of its team.
BBDO also developed this phase of the campaign as brand lead, while Fleishman-Hillard is the lead on social community management and development.
Timothy Welsh, senior vice-president of creative operations and new business at BBDO Toronto, said the first week of the launch earned 2,300 new fans that joined the Facebook page, plus “a significant increase in engagement.”
The strategy of having the characters step out of their shells, said Welsh, “was to highlight that M&M’S, despite their fun, colourful candy shells, are really delicious milk chocolate at their core.”
The goal is to raise awareness of the key brand benefit as a lead up to the next phase of the campaign that will focus on a promotional contest offering Fiats as a prize.
The overarching concept was developed by BBDO Toronto, said Welsh, which worked with the brand team at Mars and their agency partners Fleishman-Hillard and Match Ignite to bring everything together. MediaCom supplied media planning support.
