In a young market, we had to have a simple promotional mechanic: Buy Kinder Semi-Freddi. Get a Chladek.

We put the message on the expected channels; 5-second TV tag on pre-existing commercials, promotion snipes on pre-existing print, as well as the standard in-store techniques. This all took the customer to the web where they could fully immerse themselves in the promotion.But the real goal was to make the promotion cultural, self-motivating, giving anybody who participated a reason to spread it. We built a basic on-line presence for Chladek. No branding, no on-line media, and no seeding techniques. We simply put him on the web with a small cast of fictional friends and started profiles on community sites like Flikr, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. We had him and his friends post unique content like photos, links and guerilla street videos and web talk shows. Then we sat back and watched.

By local standards, the campaign is a staggering success. By the halfway point of the 16 week promotion, we met the ultimate goal of 60,000 unique website hits, with 25,000+ registering officially. By promotion end, it is projected to surpass 100,000 unique hits. Chladek redemption is projected to pass 30,000, double the original 15,000.

Chladek has become part of the local psyche. Every day, his Google footprint grows with discussion group, blog and community sites mentions. Each day, dozens of friends are added on social networking sites and it shows no sign of slowing down as everyone who participates contributes to the overall culture of Chladek.What started as a temporary promotion has become a permanent fixture for Ferrero/Kinder. The promotion will be repeated, and Chladek will be sold at the retail level. They asked us to raise awareness for a category. We helped them expand their business.