The Sugar Wars

With power players like Mars, Hershey’s, and Mondelez dominating candy shelves, how could a small, family-owned candy brand with a tiny media budget make a peep? We started with an insight: Unlike most candy, marshmallow Peeps aren’t just for eating.

Strategy Integrated Big Idea TV Social Media Digital/Mobile Print Activation
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A Digital Candy Coating

After perfecting the brand’s first live-action television commercial, we did the unthinkable: We covered it all up. Through an innovative use of YouTube's annotation features, we showed moms how to smash Peeps, how to joust Peeps, and even how to roll Peepshi.

Chicks Dig Engagement

Next, we created an entirely new brand aesthetic, one we spread across social media with posts featuring quirky Peeps rituals. In addition to the campaign’s unprecedented conversations, likes, and shares, the brand’s digital units garnered click-thru-rates 21x the CPG industry average.

The Sweet Smell of Success

While nearly all candy competitors saw sales drop that Easter, Peeps sales soared. In fact, one out of every five Easter sugar candies sold was a Peeps product. Winning an Effie for the campaign was sweet. But do you know what was even sweeter? 720 million press impressions.

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