As part of last year's launch of Hershey's Kissables, a candy-coated mini version of the ever-popular Kisses, PHD needed to reach 14- to 34-year-olds - a group that shares an obsession for music and celebrity news. The solution was a fun and unexpected integration of the Kissables icon into top programming on MuchMusic and Razer and on the homepage of MuchMusic.com.

With this campaign, the product's very recognizable and iconic shape dominated TV and computer screens. From February to April 2006, the Hershey's Kissables logo was on TV screens for 28.5 hours a week for six weeks for a grand total of 171 hours of in-show branding. Meanwhile, an SMS component helped bring viewer engagement to the next level. Viewers sending a text message to see if they were kissable prompted mini Kissables to float up the sides of the TV screen during programming. Branded SMS bounce-back messages drove to kissables.ca - creating an integrated 360-degree effect.

To reinforce the loveable characteristic of the brand online, expandable Kissables icons were used in the top news area on MuchMusic.com to candy-code music and celeb news, flagging the fun and happy stories of the day. The online Kissables news icons generated 600,000 impressions and the permanent button generated over 1.2 million impressions.

CREDITS

PHD Canada

Michelle Höhs, account director

Joanna Leenhouts, account manager

Christina Lackza, broadcast supervisor

CHUM

Patricia Ponte, creative media specialist, CHUM Specialty; Patrick Boydell, account manager, CHUM Specialty; Heather Gordon, sales manager, CHUM Interactive

Hershey Canada

Nancy DaSilva, brand manager