Starting in September 2009 chocolate brand M&M’s ran a two-month integrated campaign in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and one of the most populous cities in central Mainland China. The campaign was supported by Ketchum Shanghai and featured 12 campus road shows and five shopping mall road shows which in total attracted 4,200 participants, a wider live audience of 65,000 as well as active engagement through BBS outreach and media coverage.

The road shows featured interactive games and activities with M&M’s souvenirs as prizes to attract consumer participation. The “grand prix” event at each stop was the Most M&M’s Eaten in One Minute with Chopsticks. Each of the road shows selected qualifiers for the grand final challenge which aimed to make a legitimate Guinness World Record attempt from the competition.

Successfully sustaining the campaign required generating PR buzz amongst the target audience – university students and young adults. This was achieved by utilizing both traditional and new media. Campus and portal BBS, SMS and mobile phone news were used to drive traffic to the campaign mini-site for details of each challenge. Print media and broadcasters were invited onsite to report on the first and last challenges, while media tie-ups were used to driver deeper coverage of M&M’s.

Traditional media coverage of the World Record attempt and other challenges included 15 TV clips and 22 print clippings. Combining the results with online media the campaign reached an audience of nearly 10 million people-all exposed to the Colorful, Sharing and Fun spirit of M&M’s.