Case Study: Skittles bring unexpected fun to teens with ‘villain-hitting’ app via DDB Hong Kong

As the icon of unpredictability, confectionary brand Skittles aspires to provide unexpected fun to young people from all over the world. The biggest challenge in re-launching the brand in Hong Kong was how to localise Skittles’ unexpected fun in the context of Hong Kong’s unique culture.

There are many growing traditional rituals in Asia’s World City. Hong Kong people go to ‘beat the little person’ – a custom which is believed to beat away bad luck caused by enemies. Based on the insight that teens can often feel trapped by a world of rules and societal pressures, DDB Group Hong Kong and Skittles decided to ‘Skittlelize’ Hong Kong’s cultural heritage of ‘beat the little person’ to disrupt young peoples’ life with colourful unpredictability.

Execution

DDB created an activation campaign that aimed to strengthen engagement with Hong Kong teenagers, and become part of their routine candy repertoire. DDB created a ‘Skittles beat the rainbow’ smartphone app, which provided an engaging platform for teens to virtually beat their ‘little person’. Using the app, players can select an image of their friend or enemy and beat their ‘little person’, not until he’s small and shriveled, but until he’s big. The unexpected twist is that the app actually blesses the ‘little person’ rather than curses him.

The new campaign encourages people to play with, participate in and pass on – the app can be shared on users’ Facebook to engage with their friends. The campaign also included guerilla marketing, POSM and a viral video.

Results

From its launch in May this year, the campaign has recorded 9,774 app downloads to date. Views of the viral video of the campaign have hit 191,340 on YouTube and still growing. Thousands of dollars of free media was generated for the brand by players sharing it on Facebook and the guerilla event generated engagement and buzz in the busiest streets of Hong Kong, including Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. And last, but not least the campaign made the imaginary world of Skittles more real than ever before.

Credits

Senior Account Executive – Emile Chan