How could M&M’S Caramel connect with a new generation of young and diverse consumers? Always connected and on more than one device at a time, we knew interrupting them was not going to work. We needed to draw them in with fun, engaging content integrated into their world.

To do this we dove into a top teen and young adult passion – entertainment! Movies and TV content are an ideal escape from the day to day, and the ultimate pairing with candy.

This inspired us to create custom, M&M’S Caramel movie themed content and integrate it cross-screen, kicking off with the streaming and linear broadcast of the MTV Movie and TV Awards. The tentpole allowed us to reach teens and young adults who have migrated away from traditional channels and helped drive awareness of M&M’S Caramel as the ultimate movie and TV snack.

In just eight weeks, Viacom and M&M’S conceived and activated the campaign. This launched during the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards with four custom spots. The 15-second ads featured stop-motion animation, bringing M&M’S Caramel personality to life. Each spot represented a popular film genre. The spots also appeared in a custom ad unit running across Viacom’s music and entertainment sites, and as pre-roll on MTV.com and MTV’s YouTube channel.

To generate excitement on social, we partnered with influencer Liza Koshy. Fans entered a trivia contest on her Instagram account for a chance to win tickets to the Award show. And, Snapchat was home to eight-second versions of the custom ads.

For fans tuning in on MTV.com and MTV Facebook, M&M’S Caramel presented the Movie Awards’ post-show live streams.

Other custom creative ran throughout the summer in the BET Awards, movie marathons, MTV Promposal, Nick @ Nite and Comedy Central.

Move over popcorn! M&M’S Caramel had the highest brand awareness, purchase consideration, and sponsorship recall of all the MTV Movie & TV Award sponsors. Fans agreed that the collaboration was right on, as 98% of viewers said that the Movie and TV Awards was a good or excellent place to spread the word about M&M’S Caramel.

The custom creative—liked by 98% of viewers—garnered more than 8.6M impressions among people ages 12 to 34. Its reach, coupled with the creative success, led to significant growth in awareness and intent. In fact, product awareness increased 2X among Movie and TV Award viewers compared to non-viewers, and purchase consideration increased to 83%. The Snapchat campaign reached 4.2M unique Snapchat users while the Live Story ads received 8.3M total Snap views.