Reese’s scores sweet success with Xbox LIVE

Challenge

Reese’s wanted to raise brand awareness of its candy and reach active gamers through a Halloween costume contest that Xbox LIVE gamers were already familiar with from past years. 

Solution

Microsoft Advertising created a Branded Destination Experience (BDE) for Reese’s called “Have a Perfect Halloween”, an interactive destination campaign that ran throughout October 2011. The campaign capitalized on the spirit of the season with a costume contest where Xbox gamers could try on a range of costumes (new ones were added every week), download free themes and picture packs, and participate in a variety of Halloween-themed activities. Daily prizes ranged from candy to Microsoft points.

Results

The “Have a Perfect Halloween” campaign ran for four weeks and quickly produced impressive results. The BDE attracted nearly half of the people who saw it and delivered more than one million clicks. It generated an overall click-through rate of 5.79 percent, outperformed the average Xbox LIVE campaign, and click-through rates for individual elements climbed as high as 9.27 percent.

Conclusion

Nearly 70 percent of Xbox members took at least one post-ad action—including going to a local shop to purchase Reese’s candy, or telling a friend about Reese’s on Xbox LIVE. The campaign delivered on the goal of creating brand awareness and preference at a time when candy consumption is top-of-mind.