M&M’s Pretzel Candy

During the early part of 2010, Mars Corporation launched a massive media campaign to advertise a new product; M&M pretzels.  While this promotion was featured on television, radio commercials, and in various forms of print, Mars Corporation began their campaign on Facebook to increase initial awareness.  To entice customers to become a fan of the site, 40,000 coupons for a free pack of M&M pretzels were given away.

• Facebook campaign began one month before product launch
• All demographics and income levels targeted
• First 40,000 users to become a fan of M&M’s USA received a free sample
• Samples shipped within 48 hours of enrolment

The free sample campaign was so successful that Mars Corporation eventually gave away 120,000 packs of M&M’s pretzel candy instead of the original 40,000.  A total fan increase of 9% was experienced during the one month promotion and it continued to receive hits long after the campaign ended.  Mars found customers to be much more knowledgeable about the product at launch because of Facebook.  You can view the actual case study here.