ITNTW: Wonka IRL – Win the Chance to Enter M&M’s Chocolate Factory
If you have ever dreamt of peeling back a chocolate bar to reveal that golden ticket, or stepping into your own Willy Wonka chocolate factory adventure, then you will be very excited to see M&M’s Halloween event, where they are allowing five lucky families to step into their Ballarat factory.
The event is based on new research commissioned by M&M which revealed some insights into regional and rural families’ halloween habits. M&M saw an opportunity here, where families reported a lack of participation from neighbourhood families meant that those who did want to participate were more willing to travel to celebrate the spooky holiday, and seek out trick or treat opportunities. In comparison, metropolitan families are more likely to embrace the spooky street decorations and dress-ups.
To give rural families in Victoria an opportunity to celebrate Halloween they are throwing open the doors of their Ballarat chocolate factory and taking in five families, giving them a tour behind the scenes to “see where the magic happens.” Victorian residents are now able to enter for a chance to win the chocolate factory experience, as well as win a national Halloween hamper which is also a prize for one lucky winner.
To boost the event, Concrete Playground has covered the competition across their socials, directing their audience to Mars’ website, but haven’t yet covered the event in their publications. M&M is angling the event to be more of competition, pushing people to interact with their website, and be exposed to the special Halloween-exclusive products available. B&T also covered the campaign, with a comment by ANZ M&M’S portfolio marketing director Ana Laskova.
Mars Snacking Australia is directing their efforts into a focus on regional areas, as they build upon recent initiatives such as their support for the University of Melbourne’s Narrm Scholarship program, where students were invited in for an immersive, behind-the-scenes day at their Ballarat site. They have also sponsored Mars Snacking Ballarat Community Heroes award with a $5,000 prize. Mars Australia appears to be building up community partnerships, and appealing to rural and suburban families.
With so much going on, but without a lack of major coverage or cohesive visible strategy on their social media to show for it, Mars Australia would benefit from a different approach to their public relations and social media. With sporadic influencer collaborations and initiatives with one-off posts, Mars Australia could intensify their regional approach with social media based initiatives such as inviting more local creators into the factory, collaborating with local cafes and restaurants to try out different mars product inclusive recipes, polls and jokes about creative flavour combinations, or just adding some more personality to reflect their vibrant and humorous brand image.
Ultimately, Mars Australia has the foundations for a strong regional engagement strategy, but there is an opportunity to turn these one off initiatives into a more consistent and recognisable brand presence. By connecting its community partnerships, factory experiences and influencer collaborations under a cohesive PR and social media strategy, Mars could build stronger relationships with regional families while generating more meaningful media coverage. After all, a brand as fun and recognisable as M&M’s has plenty of personality to work with, it just needs to give audiences more reasons to engage with it beyond the occasional competition.
By Ruby Harris | PR Coordinator
