Winner: Mars, Incorporated - M&M’S Red Nose Day Campaign
Social media—and hashtags specifically—were king in this campaign, as M&M’S partnered with a wide array of influencers to share its messaging and #MakeMLaugh. The objective was to raise money and awareness for the first U.S. Red Nose Day, a campaign dedicated to raising money for children and young people living in poverty by simply having fun and making people laugh.
And when fans made someone laugh and made it known with hashtag #MakeMLaugh across social media, a dollar went to Red Nose Day from M&M’S.
The strategy behind this multi-faceted campaign was simple and straightforward as it united celebrities, influencers and M&M’S fans across the country to #MakeMLaugh. Top-tier YouTubers, bloggers, content creators and more posted social content and triggered donations.
To sustain usage of #MakeMLaugh content, the team created a custom, interactive event in Los Angeles headlined by Gen Z/Millennial internet and TV stars (e.g. James Maslow, Carlos PenaVega), artists (Cailee Rae), and comedians (Paz) all in attendance to create innovative content. To further spread awareness about the initiative and drive usage of hashtag #MakeMLaugh, they consistently pushed out owned social content featuring the beloved M&M’S characters and partnered with Twitter for a promoted trend.
M&M’S made a combined donation to the Red Nose Day fund of $1.25 million. Media coverage also resulted in 188.8 million media impressions in top outlets such as Variety, Forbes, Ad Age, Huffington Post Live, People and Entertainment Tonight. Additionally, the social campaign, influencer participation and celebrity push generated 269.7 million social media impressions, of which 123.1 million were earned. The hashtag was used over 78,000 times, with 2.9 million engagements on #MakeMLaugh content.
Honorable Mentions:
- Acorn: An Influence Company - #TryImpressa Hashtag
- Center for Audit Quality - Auditor Proud
- Children's Specialized Hospital - #FightFace
- FGL Sports Ltd. (Sport Chek) - #MyNorth
- Live Nation Entertainment - #RIPMotleyCrue Campaign
- Mars, Incorporated - M&M’S 1 Million Tastes of Crispy Giveaway: #NashHasCrispy
- Periscope - Buffalo Wild Wings #TweetShirtCanon
- Trend Micro/HCK2 Partners - #ProtectYourNet
- UN Foundation - #EarthToParis